


Meet the Parents

by allmylovesatonce



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-20 12:05:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3649701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmylovesatonce/pseuds/allmylovesatonce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set before Diary of a Mad Indian Woman, Mindy doesn't want Danny to meet her parents. Danny won't let it go. And everything that happens because of it.<br/>Multi-chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Soup, Voicemails, Questions

Mindy heard the knock but absolutely did not want to move.

“Come in!” She yelled from the comfortable place she had on her bed. She knew it was Danny anyway. It’s not like he was going to kill her.

“Seriously? You need to lock your doors!” She could hear him from the doorway as he walked his way back to her room.

“I knew it would be you.”

“Doesn’t matter. You should lock your doors, Mindy. This is New York City.” Danny paused and looked at her tucked into her bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve definitely felt better. That’s for sure. I felt so miserable and listless I didn’t even get back up when I realized I had left my phone in the other room.”

Danny chuckled as he sat down on her bed. “Well that would explain why you never called me back. I brought you some soup if you want it.”

“Did you make it?”

“Yes. My delivery ended early and I couldn’t get ahold of you. So I went home and threw something together.”

“Well if you made it then of course I will eat it!”

“Want me to help you to the kitchen?”

“Why can’t you just bring it in here? You know I love any excuse to eat in bed,” Mindy said as she curled further into her blankets as if to signal that she wasn’t moving.

Danny shook his head and sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll go heat it up for you.”

“Hey! On your way back in, can you grab my phone for me? The world must be so concerned that I haven’t been on it in hours.”

“Yeah I’m sure they are. This is unheard of. One time you live tweeted a delivery.”

“Hey! I was not the person actually catching the baby. Okay? Stop calling my professionalism into question.”

“Yes, Dear.”

“Ugh, just go make me some soup.”

“Yes, Dear,” Danny said with a chuckle.  

As he got back to her, he handed her the phone and then put down the bowl of hot soup. He knew better than to try and feed it to her.

Mindy was clicking around on her phone when she saw a voicemail from Danny. “Oh I need to hear this. I want to hear the desperation in your voice when you couldn’t get ahold of me. You must have thought I’d died or something. This is gonna be good.” Then she clicked on the play button and tossed the phone down on the bed as she turned to the soup.

As the sound started playing, she heard a very unconcerned Danny say, “Hey Min, it’s me. I bet you’re asleep. Why else would you not answer your phone? Anyway, my delivery ended sooner than I expected. I’m on my way over with some soup for you. Call me back if you want anything else. Bye.”

As she spooned hot soup into her mouth, she glared at Danny over the bowl.

“Seriously? That’s it? I haven’t been at work all day and you hadn’t heard from me in hours and that’s all the emotion you pour into that? I’m very disappointed, Daniel. I thought I meant more to you,” Mindy said, trying to lay the guilt on pretty thickly.

“Sorry, Babe. But it’s not like you’re dying of the plague or anything. You just caught some stomach bug. I promise you that if you were dying I would sound more distraught,” Danny said with a placating pat on her knee.

“That’s really all I wanted.”

“I’m glad.”

“Ugh, I need to sit up more. Here, hold my bowl.” Danny grabbed the bowl of soup from her as she repositioned herself on her bed. As she was bracing herself, she tapped the next voicemail on her phone and it started playing for the room. Danny grabbed her phone out of her way as he heard a thickly accented woman speaking through it.

“Hello, Mindy. It’s your mother again. I know you said you were on call, but I just wanted to remind you that your father and I are throwing a party this coming Friday and we would really love to have you be there. It will be friends and family and people who know you and want to see you as much as we do. Please consider coming. You could even bring a friend if you needed to. Whatever gets you here to Boston. Let me know, okay? Goodbye.”

There was a long pause between the two of them. Danny shook her phone in his hand a little as he asked, “What was that about?”

“Eh. It’s nothing. Just a stupid party my parents are having. I can’t go though.”

“Yeah, you aren’t on call Friday night. Pete is. I remember because I just checked the schedule today.”

“I just don’t want to go, Danny. Being on call is a good excuse for not going,” Mindy said, trying to end the conversation. Danny, for some reason though, wouldn’t let it go.

“I’d go with you. You know, if you wanted me to. Your mom said you could bring a friend…”

“That’s sweet. But no.”

“What, do you not want me to meet your parents?” Danny laughed out. He stopped laughing when he saw the guilty appearing look on her face.  “Mindy, do you _not_ want me to meet your parents?”

“What? No of course not, Danny!” Mindy replied, though not convincing him.

“What other reason would you have for not wanting to go, though? I know you get along with your parents. You love them. Is it me?”

“No, Danny. It’s not you. It’s not. My family is just…I don’t know how to describe them to you. But I just don’t want to go and I definitely don’t want to go with you.”

Danny seemed a bit taken aback by her phrasing. He decided to just drop it. She certainly wasn’t going to answer any of his questions. “Okay. But you know, sometime, I would like to meet your parents. It doesn’t have to be Friday, but at some point. I mean we have been dating for almost eight months. And you spend just about every Sunday out in Staten with me and Ma. But I guess I get it. How’s the soup?”

Mindy sighed, realizing that Danny really was going to drop it. She took another bite of soup and licked her lips, smiling, “The soup is delicious.”

Danny kissed her forehead before he moved to settle in beside her. When she finished eating, she curled into his side as they watched a movie on her laptop. Danny had no clue what was going on in it though. All he could think about was whatever it might be that Mindy wasn’t telling him.


	2. But Whyyy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! I actually had the time and the urge! Hooray! :)  
> I hope you enjoy!   
> It's still kinda building action.

Danny was running through the hospital to change into his scrubs when he remembered he had a patient that afternoon. He pulled out his phone to call Mindy.

“Hey Min! I have a patient this afternoon that I forgot to cancel when I got the call about the delivery. Do you think you could cover it for me?”

“I’m not actually at the office.  I think Jeremy had an easy afternoon. Want me to call him for you?”

“Yeah that would be helpful. Wait! Why aren’t you at the office?” Just then Danny could hear noise in the background on the other end. It sounded like an announcement at the bus or train station. “Are you at the train station?”

“Uhh…yes. Yeah. I am.”

“Were you planning on telling me you were going somewhere?”

“Not really because I knew you had plans with your Mom tomorrow and I didn’t want you to feel like you had to cancel them to come with me,” Mindy explained.

Danny sensed her rather evasive tone and could guess where she was going. He decided to play dumb.

“Well where are you going?”

“Danny,” Mindy practically pleaded.

“You’re going to Boston aren’t you? And you didn’t tell me.”

“I swear it’s not about you. I’m planning on coming back late tomorrow anyway. You just enjoy your time with your mom, okay?”

Danny paused for a long time, feeling the sting of rejection, even if she hadn’t straight up rejected him. “Yeah, okay. You have fun in Boston.”

Mindy sighed on the other end. “I will, thanks. And I’ll call Jeremy and have him cover for you.”

He nodded even though she wouldn’t be able to see it. He was choking on all the words he was holding back.

“Okay well, I’ll see you tomorrow Danny.”

“Mhmm. Bye.”

“Bye.”

“Hey Min?”

“Yeah?”

Danny took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “I love you.”

He could hear her sigh again on the other side of the line. “I love you, too.”

Danny hung up the phone and changed into his scrubs. He was focused on his patient when he was in the room. But as he waited for her to progress, all he could think about was how Mindy had basically lied to him. He didn’t know what was the big deal about him meeting her parents. He was a nice guy, right? He treated her well. He loved her more than he could have ever imagined. He was a successful doctor. On paper, he sounded pretty good. Okay, so yeah he hated Boston and often ribbed Mindy about it. But was that why she wouldn’t introduce him to her parents? He knew that her other boyfriends had met them. He remembered the day that Mindy came into work bragging about how well it went with Casey and her parents. And they had barely been dating at the time.

What was going on? He had been dating Mindy for the better part of a year. He’d been in love with her for even longer than that. Did she think he would make a fool out of himself? Did she think he would embarrass her? He introduced her to his mother and though they didn’t get along so well at first, they do now. Well for the most part they get along now.

Danny couldn’t stop berating himself trying to come up with a good reason why Mindy wouldn’t want him to join her. Were they not as solid a couple as he thought? He thought they were good. They may have their little squabbles but who doesn’t? Mindy squabbles with just about everyone. The other day she got into a fight with some lady because she was accused to taking too long to order. But they were good, right? Was that all in his head too? He thought of all the things they’ve overcome, of how much they’ve both grown as people since they started dating. He could tell Mindy was having a positive influence on his life. He could tell that even before Ma told him as much. And he could tell he was doing the same for Mindy. What was it? It was probably going to kill him. The anxiety of why his girlfriend wouldn’t let him meet her parents was going to give him a heart attack and it wouldn’t matter if he met them or not because he would be dead.

He threw himself down across the couch in the lounge and sighed heavily. He felt like he was channeling Mindy. She even had an influence on how he reacted to problems. Maybe he should call her and make her tell him why. She kept saying it wasn’t about him. But then what was it? He ran his hand down his face as he still struggled with this problem. His mind felt like a broken record. He just kept thinking the same things over and over and it was killing him to not have answers. Normally he considered himself a man of action and not being able to go to her right now and demand an answer was making him feel worse.

He could hear whistling coming from around the corner and then Peter walked in the lounge.

“Hey Bro! What’s up with you?” Peter took a moment and appraised Danny’s position and expression. “Damn. What _is_ up with you?”

“It’s nothing, Peter. Don’t worry about it. I need to go check on my patient. She was progressing pretty quickly.”

“Okay. Don’t scare the baby when it comes out. And looking at your face right now, you might.”

Danny just shook his head and walked out of the lounge. He really didn’t want to have to explain his probably just irrational feelings and thoughts to Peter. Besides, Peter and Mindy were really close and he could almost guarantee that whatever he told Pete would just get back to Mindy.

However, by the time the baby was delivered and Danny was back in the lounge, seeking someone else’s opinion, even Peter’s, didn’t seem so bad. He plopped down on the couch next to Peter and sighed. He didn’t want to start the conversation. When Peter didn’t initiate it, Danny sighed again, more dramatically this time. Damn, he really was acting a lot like Mindy. That second sigh did it though, and Peter looked over at him.

“Okay, Dude. What’s wrong? You are clearly in the mood to talk now.”

“It’s about Mindy. But I want you to promise me that whatever I say won’t get back to her.”

“Okay. Is it something dirty?”

Danny just glared at him. Peter shook his head and made a motion for Danny to continue speaking.

“So Mindy is going to Boston tonight…”

“Okay…”

“To see her parents.”

“So?”

“So? She didn’t ask me to go with her! And I was there and we had a whole conversation about it when she got a voicemail about this party they’re throwing and she flat out said she wasn’t going to go. I told her I would go with her. I said I wanted to meet her parents and she just shrugged me off and basically said it didn’t matter and that she wasn’t going to go.” Danny paused to take a breath and to let that all sink in with Peter. “But then she went. And she wasn’t even going to tell me. If I hadn’t overheard her at the train station, she probably would have just lied and said she just needed a night to herself. What is up with that, Peter?”

Peter stared at Danny for a while before answering. It was as if he was evaluating his mood or something. Maybe he was just in shock that Danny actually talked this in depth with him about a problem he was having. He suddenly made a nodding motion and then sat up straighter and furrowed his brow.

“So let me get this straight? You actually _volunteered_ to go spend a night or the weekend with Mindy’s family and she said no and then went without you?”

Danny nodded.

“And you are probably feeling pretty rejected and are totally doubting your relationship with Mindy and basically your entire lives together right.”

Danny eyed Peter a bit skeptically and also wondered if maybe earlier his thoughts hadn’t just been in his head. He nodded, waiting for Peter to continue.

“Well that is messed up! That sounds like something _you_ would do. Not Mindy!”

“Thank you! Wait…what?”

“What? You’re shadier about things than she is. Look, here’s what you need to do.” At this point, the two men scooted a bit closer to each other on the couch and leaned in like they were sharing a secret. Peter grabbed Danny’s face and Danny slapped his hands away so he rested a hand on Danny’s shoulder.

“You need to go to Boston and surprise Mindy. I bet she’s just nervous that her parents are going to be shocked that she’s dating a much older man.”

“I’m not a much older man than Mindy.”

“Danny your interrupting is not helping things. Look, go get on a train, schmooze the hell out of her parents and show Mindy that she had nothing to worry about. She didn’t invite you to the party? Well the jokes on her! Everyone knows it’s no party without Danny Castellano!”

Danny paused, brow furrowed. “They do?”

“Well no, of course not. You often bring parties down. But her parents don’t know that! And you are going to Charm. Their. Asses. Off. Right?”

“Right!” Danny nearly yelled back at Peter.

“A little loud, but I like your enthusiasm! Get out of here you crazy kid!” At that, Danny jumped up and ran for the locker room, pulling out his phone to look for train times.

Peter yelled after him, “You go show those crazy Indian people how great Danny Castellano really is!”

Danny grabbed his wallet, choosing to run home in his scrubs. Once there, he changed into a nice suit and tie at near lightning speed and then chased off for the train station. He would be late to the party, but damn it, he was going to prove to Mindy that she was wrong and that her parents would love him. He was positive this was a good idea.


	3. Every Party Has a Pooper That's Why We Invited You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit shorter, but here's another chapter! Enjoy!! :)   
> Reviews are always appreciated!!

Mindy weaved through people on her way back to the bar. She had been chatting with people for close to an hour and desperately needed another drink. She was planning on avoiding people by hanging out by the bar as long as she could. She looked around and recognized so many familiar faces. However, there was one face she recognized that she had really been hoping wouldn’t be here. Each time she thought he was coming near her, she would engage anyone near her in a seemingly deep conversation. If possible, Mindy was planning on avoiding him the whole night.

She was looking over at her parents who were chatting with some old friends of theirs. They looked so happy. She had always hoped for that kind of love and happiness in her life. Watching them made her regret not bringing Danny. Except Danny would never understand everything she was keeping from him. She was right to leave him behind. Maybe she just should have been more upfront about it. As she was sipping on her drink, she heard footsteps and looked over to see her brother approaching her.

“Hey, Rish,” Mindy said, pulling him in for a hug. “You never told me how you got roped into this thing. I figured if either of us was going to get out of this it would be you.”

“Believe me, I was out but then Mom called me. That damn woman knows how to play me like a fiddle.”

“What card did she play?”

“Bribery. You?”

“Really? You caved on bribery, Rishi? I’m disappointed! I went one past that. Guilt.”

“Ahh, the straight up motherly guilt. I’m actually impressed you got past the bribery.”

The two siblings laughed as they thought of how easily they had both been played by their mother. Mindy took another drink and said, “Well at least it’s a nice party. It wasn’t one of those lame ones.”

“Or one of those super swanky ones like at the country club. I always feel so uncomfortable there. This is a nice medium.”

“I mean I wouldn’t hate if the guest list was a bit different, but this isn’t bad.”

Rishi began laughing, saying, “Yeah, I saw ole Raji here. And how is he doing?”

Mindy rolled her eyes. “I believe he dropped the childish nickname. I hear it’s just Raj now. And I don’t know. I’ve kinda been avoiding him all night. I can’t do that right now.”

They paused, still surveying the room. Finally Rishi sighed and then said, “I guess we should probably go socialize, shouldn’t we?”

Mindy made a whining sound before she finally nodded in agreement. “If we’re gonna do this, here’s how we should do it…”

“Mindy, wait! Isn’t that Danny?” Rishi asked, pointing at the door, “Your coworker?” he followed, implying he knew they weren’t just coworkers.

“What the hell? What is he doing here? And how does he even know the party is here? I didn’t tell him!”

Rishi looked at his sister skeptically. “Did you tag yourself here on Facebook?”

Mindy closed her eyes and groaned. “Damn it, yes. Someone must have helped him. He has no clue how to use Facebook. I set up his account so that I could tag us in a relationship and I’m the only one who uses his account. Sometimes I leave myself super romantic posts on my wall. But he couldn’t have known how to actually use it!” Mindy said, freaking out more and more as she continued on. This had not been part of the plan. She thought Danny was hurt by her not inviting him, but she didn’t think he’d actually come. “I need to go take care of this.”

“I’ll come with you,” Rishi said with a big grin on his face.

“No. Stay here. Or go socialize. But don’t follow me,” Mindy said in her best commanding voice.

Mindy wove through people at top speed, knocking into a few of them as she did. She had to get to the door before Danny decided to talk to someone.

He looked up when he saw her approaching him and smiled the dorkiest little smile. Damn it, Danny, this was not the time to make her heart melt.

“Danny, what are you doing here?”

Danny took a big breath as if to give a long winded explanation when someone else approached them.

“Mindy! There you are! I’ve been trying to find you all night.”

Mindy squeezed her eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be. The one person she didn’t want to talk to, let alone have Danny meet, was right there.

Danny sensed her irritation and decided to end the awkward silence. “Uh, hi. I’m Danny.”

The other man answered him, “Hi, Danny. I’m Raj. Are you friends with Mindy?”

Danny got a confused look on his face. Mindy was still not making eye contact with either man. Danny looked at her but couldn’t tell how he should answer or who this man even was.

“Uhh…I guess you could say that…” Danny said, trailing off a bit. “How about you? How do you know Mindy?”

At that, the man put his arm around Mindy, smiling, and said, “Me? Well I’ve known Mindy for years. I’m her fiancé.”


	4. Mindy, You Got Some Explainin' to Do!

“Danny! Stop!” Mindy cried as she chased after him outside of the building. “Please just stop!” She slowed down and doubled over as she was not in as good of shape as him. She knew if she was going to catch up to him it would be because he let her. He slowed down to a stop but wouldn’t turn around to look at her.

Panting, Mindy began, “Danny, please just let me explain. It’s not what you think.”

Turning around, Danny replied, “You’re damn right it’s not what I think. It’s strange to me how for the longest time you’ve gone on and on about you’ll never find love and get married when all along you had a husband all lined up for you. I kept wondering what it was about me that you didn’t want to meet your parents. I kept grilling myself wondering what it was that you hated about me, trying to figure out why you would be so evasive about meeting your parents. I thought, maybe she doesn’t want to ask me. So then I volunteered and you still came without me. I didn’t get it. I get it now though. You weren’t worried about me; you were worried about crowd control.” Turning on his heel, he headed away from the building.

“Hey, no! You stop right now Daniel Alan Castellano,” Mindy practically screamed at him. At the sound of his full name he stopped again. He wouldn’t turn back around though. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. Instead, Mindy came around to face him.

“Look, I didn’t tell you about any of this because I didn’t think you would understand. You always make a lot of jokes about my Indian background and Indian culture and so I didn’t want to try and explain this to you and have you laugh in my face or make it some big joke.”

“Mindy,” Danny started, finally making eye contact with her. The look she saw in his eyes broke her. She could tell how upset he was. She needed to just bite the bullet and do it. She needed to explain everything to him.

“I’ll do what I should have done a while ago, and I’ll admit this all to you. You just have to promise me you won’t make any snarky comments or anything, okay?”

Danny nodded, adding, “I’ll do my best.”

Mindy rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, finding the place to begin.

“Okay so you know my parents were immigrants here. When they were settling in here, they met another Indian couple new to America. They all got along really well and they helped each other through struggles of a new life here and all that. They still held on to their Indian customs though. The four of them decided that when they had children, two of them would marry. Well before you know it, apparently the Patels had Raji about two months before my mother found out she was pregnant with me. They had a boy and my parents had a girl. They thought it was fate. Raji and I grew up together. I really didn’t always like him. He went through a lot of weird phases. I didn’t know our parents were planning an arranged marriage for us. I think they made us spend so much time together in hopes that we would grow fond of each other and actually love each other.” Mindy paused to take a breath and let Danny process the information. She looked into his eyes and could tell he cared about what she was saying.

“So when did you find out about it if your parents didn’t tell you?” He asked softly.

She held back a smile but was pleased to hear that the anger and hurt from his voice seemed to have mostly faded away.

“I was around 14 or 15 and my parents sat me down one day. I had been complaining, I think, about a lot of my friends going on dates and how no one would ever love me and blah blah blah. They decided to tell me that even if I never found love I could still have a husband one day. I think they thought they were comforting me, but I just got really freaked out. I mean Meg Ryan wasn't in an arranged marriage in any of the movies I loved. I yelled and said I hated Raji and I didn’t want to marry him and why did it have to be me. My parents were getting slightly sentimental because Rishi was pretty little at the time and I think they were pretty sleep deprived. All of the sudden my dad got really uneasy about the whole deal and he and my mom made a deal with me that I would have till I was 35 to find love, well they meant a husband. Twenty years seemed like forever then. So I dated people I got to choose and I have no clue what Raji’s parents told him but he still seems to think that the deal is well intact.”

“Thirty-five? Is that why you didn’t want me to come? Because you’re so close to it?” Danny asked hesitantly.

“Close to it? What are you talking about? I still have a good ten years, Mister!” Mindy exclaimed.

Danny tilted his head and gave her a look. “Min.”

“Okay maybe not ten years. But a while. You don’t know how old I am.”

“You’re 34.”

Gasping, Mindy asked, “How do you know that?!”

Danny laughed as he replied, “You mean other than the fact that we’ve known each other for about seven years and you _weren’t_ a high schooler when we met? Remember the other night when we got pretty drunk? You were drunker than I was and you went on and on about how much you trusted me and you told me your real age.”   

Mindy gave him a look of disbelief. “Damn my lack of a drunken filter. This is why I didn’t get drunk around you for a good five years of knowing you. I probably would have told you waay too much information.”

They both laughed a little and she hesitantly wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head on his shoulder. “Look, Danny, I wanted to tell you. And I wanted you to meet my parents, I did. I was just afraid that my mother or father would use the slightest thing wrong with you and turn it into a reason that I should end things with you and marry Raj.” She could feel him nod against her and pull her in a little closer. They stood there for a bit just holding each other, trying to sort through all the information that had just been dropped. Finally Mindy pulled back and looked up at Danny.

“You know what? Screw it. I want you to meet my parents and you want to meet my parents. I love you and I don’t want to marry the weird banker that I grew up with. And if my parents don’t like you,” She stopped herself at the pained look on Danny’s face. “Which is insane because obviously they will love you,” she said rubbing her hands up and down his arms reassuringly. “But if they don’t, I’ll tell them to forget themselves because this is my life now and if they wanted control over it, they should have married me off when I was still a minor. Or before I was independently wealthy. Either one.” She smiled up at Danny confidently. He leaned in and kissed her gently.

“What made you come up here?” Mindy asked softly, pulling in close to Danny again.

He was silent for a bit, but eventually Danny responded, “I just wanted to be here. I don’t know. I wanted to be with you, I wanted you to think I was important enough. I wanted to see the looks on everyone’s faces at work when you stomped in Monday morning telling them the success story of me meeting your parents like you had with your other boyfriends. I don’t know. I just wanted to be here.”

Mindy smiled at Danny’s explanation. “And here I thought all this time before we were really friends you were just tuning me out.”

“You know that’s pretty much impossible. Believe me, early on, I tried.” For that comment, Danny earned a light slap. Mindy paused after and looked up at him.

“Well you know what? I’m glad the truth is out there and I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.”

They shared another quick kiss before Mindy pulled away. She grabbed Danny’s hand and said, “Danny Castellano, how would you like to meet my parents?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! I'm loving all the comments! They're making my day today!   
> Sadly school is about to take over my life again, so it may be a bit before the next chapter. Hopefully not though.


	5. Dance with Me

Mindy stood hand in hand with Danny, her eyes scouring for her parents. She spotted them across the room and set off to them. They were chatting with some friends when the couple approached them. Her mother looked up and smiled at her daughter.

“Mindy! You remember our old friends –“

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, great to see you. Could you give us a moment?” Mindy said, interrupting her mother before she could get off track. The couple gave a slightly affronted look but left Mindy with her parents.

“Mindy that was rather rude, don’t you think?”

“Sorry. Look I have someone I wanted you to meet and I know they are particularly long winded people.” Mindy made a waving motion and then pulled Danny to her level. “Mom, Dad, this is Danny. Danny Castellano.” Her parents looked from her to Danny. Danny extended his hand to shake both of theirs, smiling a bit nervously.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lahiri, it’s so great to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much from Mindy,” Danny said politely.

“Danny? Like the one from your office?” Her mother asked.

Mindy nodded. “Yep. Just the same. Except the thing is, he’s not just Danny from the office. He’s Danny my boyfriend!” She said, weaving her arm through Danny’s as she said it.

Her mother looked at her skeptically. Her father just smiled and shook Danny’s hand again.

“Well it’s very nice to meet you Danny,” her father answered. Mindy’s mother was still silent. Her father continued, “So tell me, how long have the two of you been together?”

“Seven months or so now,” Mindy replied cheerfully. Danny smiled and nodded.

“Seven months you say? Interesting. You’ve never mentioned anything in all that time,” Mindy’s mother replied.

Mindy glanced over at Danny quickly, hoping he wasn’t getting mad again. “Well, Mom, we’ve just been really busy and I don’t know, I didn’t want you to think Danny was just another one of my boyfriends, you know? I wanted you to actually get to meet each other.”

“Sure. Sure. Mindy, do you think I could speak to you for a moment?”

“We’re speaking right now…”

“Privately,” her mother said, her eyes flashing toward Danny.

Mindy fought the urge to roll her eyes. She huffed a little before nodding. “Danny, why don’t you just chat with my dad. I’m sure you’ll get along really well!” She said cheerfully before leaning in and whispering, “Just push down your Boston hate a bit. My dad loves it here.” He nodded to her and she kissed him on the cheek before following her mother.

“So Mindy, seven months, huh?”

“Uhh…yes?”

“You don’t think I know what you’re doing?”

“And what am I doing, Mom?”

“You roped one of your work friends into posing as your boyfriend because your deadline is approaching and you think that if you have a serious boyfriend we won’t keep the marriage going.”

Mindy gave her mother an exasperated look. “I…um…are you _serious_?”

“It sounds like something you would do Mindy. You’ve said lots of times how you would rather end up alone than marry Raji.”

“I make no apologies for that. Raji is weird. He always has been. You know it, Mom. And I promise you that this is not that. I love Danny. He really is my boyfriend.”

“I thought you hated him? You always used to talk about what a jerk he was.”

Mindy chuckled a little. “Yeah I know, but he changed. For the most part, I mean. Look, can you just talk to him? He’s a great guy.” Mindy’s mother eyed her suspiciously, but eventually nodded her assent.

When they walked back over to the men, they were loudly laughing about something. Mindy took that as a hopeful sign. A waiter came by with a tray of drinks and Mindy grabbed one for her and Danny. She was holding out hope that this would turn out well. As she was standing there trading stories with Danny and her parents, she started to get a really good feeling about the night. Her dad wrapped his arm around her and she was smiling and laughing right along with them.

Once her parents had started dancing, Danny dragged her out on the floor with all the other couples. As they swayed together, she smiled up at him.

“What?” Danny asked.

“Nothing. This just went better than I expected. That’s all,” Mindy answered before she leaned up and kissed him sweetly.

Before too long, her dad cut in and swept Mindy away from Danny. Danny started dancing with her mother.

“So Danny, tell me a bit about yourself.”

“Uhh…well I’m an OBGYN just like your daughter. We’ve worked at the same practice for years now. I am from New York. I was born and raised there. Have you ever been to New York?”

“I have a few times to visit Mindy. It’s a nice city,” she answered softly. “So you and my daughter?”

“Yes. Me and your daughter,” Danny answered nervously. “To be honest, I don’t really know what I’d do without Mindy. She’s such a great person. She’s been through a lot and had a lot of weird stuff happen to her but she’s still so kind. To everyone. To me, to the people we work with, to random people on the street. Not to say she can’t get a bit feisty sometimes,” Danny added, laughing. He felt reassured when her mother laughed with him. After a moment, he continued. “She’s probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I just really love her,” Danny concluded thoughtfully, as he looked over at Mindy laughing as she danced with her dad.

What he didn’t see was her mother appraising him as he watched her daughter. She could see the love pouring through his eyes.

When the song ended, she hugged Danny before going back over to her husband. Mindy came back to Danny giggling. “So what did you and my mom talk about?”

Danny smirked. “What do you think? You.”

“Good. As it should be.”

The two of them walked to a table near the dance floor and sat down. They were chatting amiably with each other and Rishi, not really paying attention when the music cut off and someone took over the mic.

“Hi everyone! I don’t want to interrupt for long. I just wanted to say a big thank you to our hosts, Sunil and Mira Lahiri!” Mindy groaned as she heard the kiss ass, Raj, toasting to her parents. She looked at Rishi and rolled her eyes.

Raj continued, “Rishi, Mindy, why don’t you both come up here?” He said, gesturing them forward. They both shook him off and insisted they stay there. “No guys, get up here. They’re your parents!”

Not seeing a way out of it, Mindy and Rishi both got up to go join their parents. As Mindy passed by Danny, she grazed her hand along his shoulders. He grabbed it and kissed it before she was out of reach. As she was walking away, she turned and smiled back at him.

Mindy and Rishi were up there standing with their parents as Raj continued to go on and on and on about the Lahiri family. “I pretty much grew up with the Lahiris. They’ve always been such a welcoming and warm people. Mindy and I used to spend so much time together as children. I always thought about how great it would be to be a part of the Lahiri family. They always seemed like they had so much fun.”

Mindy started getting a bit skeptical of where this was going.

“This party is such a fun affair, as always. The Lahiris really know how to get everyone to have a good time. I’ve really always loved this family.”

Mindy fought the urge to roll her eyes since everyone’s eyes were on her and her family. But he just kept repeating himself. She looked over at Danny and saw a waiter whisper something in his ear and lead him out of the room. She was curious what was going on there. She wanted to follow. She was so focused on wherever Danny was going that she missed a crucial part of Raj’s speech. Before she knew it, he was right in front of her.

“So Mindy, I think it’s time we make this official. What do you say?” He asked.

She looked at her parents shocked faces. She saw some awed faces of people in the crowd. She looked to see where Danny was but he was nowhere to be found.

Finally she spoke, “Umm…what?”

At that, Raj got down on one knee and said, “Mindy Lahiri, will you marry me?”  

Mindy froze momentarily before looking around and finally finding Danny. He had a horrified look on his face.

“Mindy, what do you say?” Raj asked again.

She looked back at Danny in enough time to see him back out of the room and disappear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all are still reading and enjoying!   
> Let me know what you think!! :)


	6. What about us? What about everything we've been through?

Danny was pacing back and forth in a hallway when Mindy found him after she had excused herself. His head shot up like a deer when he heard footsteps approaching him. He looked slightly relieved when he saw it was Mindy. She approached him cautiously. It had been awhile since she had seen him in a state like this. He looked up at her with a pained expression.

“What did you say?” He asked her hesitantly.

Mindy tilted her head and appraised the odd way Danny was acting. “I told him that I was overheated and needed some air.”

For some reason that made Danny whip back around and look at her incredulously. “You gave him hope.”

“What? No I didn’t. Raj has to know I’ve never wanted to marry him. I just didn’t want to reject him in front of a ton of people. I mean how embarrassing would that be?”

Danny wouldn’t stop pacing. Mindy was starting to get concerned.

“What do your parents think? What will they do?”

“Uhh…considering that they looked about as shocked as I was, I’m betting they didn’t see this coming either. I’m sure if I had a, um, competing offer for my hand, they’d just let me choose…” Mindy said, trailing off, hoping Danny would get the message on his own.

“A competing offer for your hand?” Apparently he wasn’t picking up on it.

“Yeah. You know, someone else interested in marrying me or whatever,” Mindy replied, attempting to feign nonchalance.

“I can’t do that,” Danny said shortly.

Mindy hid her confusion by barreling through the conversation. “I mean it doesn’t have to be a real proposal. Even a fake one would give me a good reason to let him down.”

Danny was still pacing back and forth. Mindy was starting to get mad. She couldn’t understand why he was reacting the way he was. He had to know if it came down to him or Raj, she would obviously choose Danny. There was no question in her mind. Was there a question in his? He wasn’t talking. So Mindy did what she does best, she filled the silence.

“I mean it wouldn’t be that big a deal. We’ll get married someday anyway.”

“I don’t know,” Danny replied, stopping pacing, but not turning to look at her.

“What do you mean “you don’t know?” Danny, what is going on?” Mindy said, trying to hold back her exasperation.

Still not looking at her, Danny answered, “I’m just not sure we’ll get married.”

Mindy took a few seconds to reign in her thoughts. They were all over the place. Was it her? Was there someone else? If so, who was this bitch? Mindy rounded around to face Danny.

“Danny, do you not want to marry me?”

“Mindy it’s not you—“

“Because if you don’t want to marry me, if you don’t see a future with me, what has been the point of the last seven months? What was the point of doing all you did to try and win me back? If you don’t want me to be a part of your life for the next however many years, why couldn’t you have just left me alone to continue healing as I was after you dumped me unceremoniously?”

“Mindy—“

“No. Is it me? Is there someone else? Just tell me.”

“It’s not you. Of course it’s not you. And no there’s no one else. Mindy, you know I love you,” Danny said, reaching a hand out for her.

She backed away from his touch. “Just not enough to want to marry me?”

“Mindy, please. It’s not about marrying _you_. It’s about getting married at all. I don’t believe in it. The most important marriages in my life ended in divorce and abandonment. Marriage? It’s just not important to me.”

Mindy fought back tears as she heard his reasons. She should have known Danny would be opposed to marriage. “Hmm. Well that would have been good to know, Danny. Tell me, why did this not come up all the random times we talked hypothetically about our wedding? Or when we joked about our future family? Why am I just finding out about this aversion you have to marriage now?”

“Just because I don’t want to get married, doesn’t mean I don’t see a future for us,” Danny provided.

“That’ll be some future Danny. One where I’m bitter because I’ve never been fully convinced it wasn’t me. Or one where you are bitter because I roped you into something you didn’t want. You didn’t want to marry me or put up with me or have kids with me. And we’ll be those old rude people who are constantly terrible to people because we hate our lives. Or there’s the future where we can’t get past this huge difference in what we want for our lives and this relationship lasts a few more awkward and tense months before it implodes and not only are our personal lives in shambles but also our work lives because we see each other every day.”

“Mindy. Those can’t be our only options,” Danny pleaded, starting to really worry about what she was saying.

“Well maybe you should have thought of this. I’ve always been upfront about wanting to get married. You’re the one who dropped this bomb. To think of all the pain and drama you could have spared us all if you had gone into our relationship saying that it’s just fun and that I’m not the marrying type for you.”

“Mindy, I never said that.”

“No, you know what? Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll marry someone who actually wants to marry me, since apparently I have an offer on the table. And you, Danny? You have a nice train ride back to New York.”

“Mindy, wait!” Danny begged, though it fell on deaf ears. Before he knew it, she was out of the hallway. After a couple of minutes, he could hear applause and cheers from the banquet hall.

How had this night that started off so well intentioned turned into this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're still reading, THANK YOU!! Let me know what you think!!   
> Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to update again till next week.


	7. Story of a Broken Man

_Hi! This is Mindy! Leave a message!_

Danny slammed the phone down after getting her voicemail for probably the twelfth time that morning. He’d gone to work and seen patients but he refused to speak with any of his coworkers unless it was strictly work related. He had to fight his instinct to look at Mindy’s office when he left his office as he did most times. As far as he knew, she hadn’t even been in. He hadn’t heard her talk to anyone and hadn’t heard her name called out. He thought it would hurt too much if he went to her office and confirmed that she wasn’t there.

He loved Mindy. He wished he could give her everything she wanted but he was scared. That’s really what it boiled down to. Danny Castellano was scared. He was too scared to try and win her back a good and honest way, so he snuck around behind her back and catfished her. When that didn’t pan out, he putzed around until everything blew up in his face and he had no choice but to lay it all on the line. If he had only done that the time he tried to kiss her before she was going out with that cop, he wouldn’t have started their relationship from such a weird place. He should have told her about being Andy the morning he was coaxing her back to health. But he took the coward’s route and said nothing. He gave into what was easy and just spent time with her. He was being selfish.

But of course he was being selfish. Danny was always selfish. He wanted their relationship to be on his terms rather than be on their terms. And that’s not even including the time he asked her to “be cool.” God he was such an idiot. This entire thing was his fault. He felt like they were advancing their relationship at a good pace. She practically lived with him. Granted, again on his terms. He had to have it pointed out to him that none of her stuff was there before he finally let her keep stuff at his place. What was he so afraid of? That the presence of Mindy’s toothbrush would mean that one day there would be another man screwing Mindy in his bed? That’s ridiculous. Mindy wasn’t Christina.

There it was. Christina. Part of the root of all his problems, all his malfunctions. He had been whole enough after his dad left to feel like he was prepared to marry Christina. He was so in love with her. Though not as much as he loves Mindy. He thought the sun rose and fell with her. He thought she could do no wrong. He was an idiot. He got so caught up in trying to play the perfect husband and be the perfect doctor that he lost a bit of who he was. He focused so hard on his patients and his job that he neglected his wife a bit. He learned from the best though. Christina had always put him second to her art. He shouldn’t have been surprised when he came home to find her in bed with another man. The end of their marriage had been imminent. Neither of them were as invested in their marriage as they were in their jobs. The days of the two of them being the happy married couple were long gone. And honestly, when it ended, Danny felt relief.

Danny remembered one time after they separated when he was still angry, he was sitting in the break room trying to read the paper when Mindy walked in. He was trying his best to ignore her and Jeremy, who had trailed in behind her. But she wouldn’t stop talking. Naturally. She was going on and on to Jeremy about God knows what. He was only taking in bits and pieces. Then for some reason Mindy made a joke about England at Jeremy’s expense. Danny felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a reluctant smile. Mindy noticed and he could see the pride in her face. As she walked away, he realized it had been the first time in a long time he had smiled without forcing it. He started looking at Mindy differently that day.

Before he knew it, Mindy was forcing herself into his life and it would never be the same. Once she knew she could have an effect on him, she had to figure out new ways to breach the system. She would bring him food that she liked. She would invite him out to coworker dinners. She would try to start chatting with him. He did his best to rebuff all advances. But one day, she found her chink in his armor and never left him alone.

Danny had loved her for a long time before he ever did anything about it. At first he didn’t realize what he was feeling was love. It had been so long since he had felt it with Christina. And really, there had been no one he loved or came close to in between them. He held it back because, yes, it scared him. He thought of the consequences of what could happen from this love. Really, the only one he dwelled on was that if things went south, he might not see Mindy anymore. He couldn’t face that. Eventually he just bit the bullet and did it. He walked straight to the back of that plane, grabbed her and kissed her. And then like the idiot he is, he ruined it. Once he got her back, he swore to himself he wouldn’t do anything that stupid again. Yet here he is.

Sighing, Danny realized Mindy was completely right to move on from him. Hell, she had known that guy she was going to marry basically since she was born. What a romantic story that would be for her children. They had grown up together but gone their separate ways, always having the other in the back of their mind. Then one day when she was in another relationship, he just did it and got down on one knee and proposed. And she said yes. How romantic. Danny couldn’t offer her any kind of story like that. He was just a damaged guy from Staten who loved her but was too terrified to love her in the way she really wanted.

Danny couldn’t stand sitting there alone with his thoughts. His day was pretty light. He had already seen most of his patients. Maybe he could just tell Jeremy he wasn’t feeling well and he could go home. He could take a heartache day as Mindy would call it. And if she were here (and not the reason for his heartache) she would probably encourage him to do so.

Just as he was about to get up and leave, Peter strolled in looking hesitant to start speaking.

Danny just stared him down. “What, Pete?”

“Heyyy…buddy. You doing okay? You seem particularly…unapproachable today.”

“Yet here you are approaching me. Clearly I’m not that bad,” Danny said, trying to get his things together.

“Whatever. Listen, Danny what the hell happened? I can’t get ahold of Mindy and you look like someone died and maybe like that someone was you,” Peter said, sitting down in one of Danny’s chairs.

“Peter, I don’t want to talk about it.”

But naturally, no one had any privacy in that damn office. As Peter nodded and started to stand, Jeremy stormed in to Danny’s office in a huff.

“Danny! What the bloody hell is this?!” He yelled, shaking some piece of paper in his hand.

“I don’t know. You tell me,” Danny said in an almost bored tone.

“You don’t know? It’s an email from Mindy! Let me read it to you,” Jeremy replied hotly.

“Wait! You actually printed off an email?” Peter interrupted.

“Well yes. What was I supposed to do, bring my computer in here and shake it around all dramatically,” Jeremy replied, shaking the paper for emphasis.

“Can you two just shut up?” Danny yelled. “Jeremy, read the damn email.”

Peter and Jeremy looked worriedly at each other.

Jeremy cleared his throat before reading. “Jeremy, I’d like to speak with you next week about selling my shares of the practice. I am moving back to Boston permanently. It’s been a pleasure working with you all these years. I’ll be calling you soon. Mindy.” Jeremy dropped his hand and looked worriedly at Danny. Peter shifted his glance between the two men to see who would speak first.

Danny stood there fuming. She wasn’t even coming back? That bastard was making her move there? Who the hell did he think he was? How was Danny going to convince her that he was wrong and she still loved him if they weren’t even in the same state?!

Finally he swallowed down his emotions (and tears) and looked back up at Jeremy.

“Is that it?”

“Er…yes…”

“Okay, then.” Danny started to gather his things again. Pushing everything into his satchel, he looked up at Jeremy, “Listen, I’m not feeling my best. I have about two more patients. If you two can’t cover them, I’ll reschedule them.” He moved to leave but Jeremy and Peter moved to block the door.

“So you aren’t going to tell us what’s going on?” Peter asked.

“Nothing to tell.”

“Danny, you’re a terrible liar. Just tell us, mate. Maybe we can help,” Jeremy offered.

“She’s moving to Boston. What’s to help?” Danny said, defeated.

“I’m gonna ask you to do something that you aren’t going to like,” Peter started. “Let it out, Little Buddy.”

Danny glared at him until the men both forced him down into a chair.

“Danny, we won’t let you leave until you tell us what is going on. We’re concerned. We’re concerned for you. We’re concerned for Mindy. We’re a little concerned for the practice,” Jeremy said, receiving a light punch in the arm from Peter for the last part. Rubbing his arm, Jeremy continued, “And honestly, Danny, when was the last time Peter and I agreed on anything?”

“The weird British guy is right!” Peter said enthusiastically. He paused then finished, “Danny, just tell us.”

Both men looked at Danny with sympathetic faces and seemingly ready to listen. Danny couldn’t take it anymore. He broke.

After explaining the events of Friday night to Jeremy and Peter, they both agreed he could go home and get it out privately. Jeremy told him as he left not to feel like he had to come in the next day. Jeremy was sure he and Peter could handle it. So by Wednesday afternoon, Danny was pretty exhausted by hating himself for what he had done. His stupid fear had gotten in the way again. But this time it ruined the best thing in his life. The fallout from that was on its way to ruining his job too.

He was finishing off his glass of scotch when he heard the knock. He didn’t feel like getting up for it. He could guarantee he didn’t have the energy to deal with whoever was behind it. When a second knock came, a thought occurred to him. What if it was Mindy?

Nah, it wouldn’t be her. It was probably Morgan or Peter or someone trying to force him out of his stupor and stop him from day drinking. But what if it _was_ Mindy? Danny threw down his glass and moved quickly for the door. He wrenched it open not knowing who to expect.

No matter who he was expecting though, he sure as hell wasn’t expecting to find Rishi and Mindy’s parents waiting on his stoop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're still reading and enjoying!! :)


	8. What Brings You By?

Danny stood there stunned for what felt like forever but was probably only a few seconds. The Lahiris just stared back at him, waiting for him to catch up. Finally he shook off his shock and stepped back to let them into his home.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lahiri, Rishi, please come in,” Danny said politely.

“There’s no need for the formality, son. Please, call me Sunil.”

Danny nodded lightly but kept his head low. He didn’t know why he was getting such kindness from Mindy’s father when he had broken her heart.

“And of course you can call me Mira, but we really don’t have time for name games right now,” Mira said, striding into Danny’s kitchen. She walked over to his fridge and started removing things. Danny stared at her in confusion. He looked back and forth between Sunil and Rishi but neither of them seemed fazed. Rishi went and settled down at the kitchen table and Sunil followed suit. Danny thought maybe this was all some drunken dream he had concocted through a sickening amount of day drinking. How much had he actually had to drink?

“Umm…not that you’re not all welcome in my home, but uhh…what are you doing here?” Danny finally asked.

Mira paused in the kitchen and turned around to face Danny. He figured she would explain their sudden appearance.

“Where do you keep your utensils?” She asked instead.

Danny just stared at her for a moment. “Top left drawer.” She turned around and found them, letting out a small “ahh” as she did.

Danny had an incredibly confused look on his face when he eventually sank down into one of the chairs at the island. Sunil walked over and took the chair next to him. He matched his position to Danny’s and looked over at him.

“We’re here about Mindy,” Sunil started.

“Is she okay?” Danny asked in a panic.

“She’s fine, Daniel,” Sunil said.

Danny could hear an audible tut from Mira as she bustled around the kitchen. Danny looked over at her. She finally turned away from the food.

“She’s hardly fine, Sunil. Your definition of “fine” is baffling to me if you think our Mindy is fine.”

Danny felt his heart sink. He knew she would be upset, but hearing it actually confirmed was killing him. Danny was trying to choke back the tears he felt coming. He knew that crying was not going to help whatever situation this was. Danny closed his eyes and fought the urge to grill them about Mindy. He kept his eyes closed until he felt a hand cover his.

“Look, Danny, we aren’t here to accuse you of anything. We just want to know what happened,” Mira said softly, squeezing Danny’s hand in comfort.

Danny was at a loss for words. He didn’t know how to explain to these incredibly kind people that he was the reason their daughter was not fine.

Taking advantage of Danny’s silence, Rishi started to clarify things. “Look, Man, we know something happened. We know there was a fight of some sort and Mindy kept saying these really crazy things but she never actually said what happened. You know? And don’t worry about Mom. When she’s nervous or stressed, she cooks. It’s just her thing. And it proves to be delicious for the rest of us.”

All the Lahiris convened around the island with Danny. They were looking at him gently, but expectantly. They knew if they pressed too hard, Danny might snap and kick them out. They had gleaned that much from Mindy.

“I don’t know if I can really explain to you what happened,” Danny said bleakly.

“We’ll take what we can get. We just want our daughter to be happy again,” Sunil replied.

“Yeah. Believe me, I had a room next to her forever and I’ve _never_ heard her cry like this before. And you know how dramatic she can be, Dude,” Rishi added.

“I don’t know if you know this, but my parents aren’t together. I wasn’t like Mindy. I didn’t have a sweet, loving, married couple for parents growing up. My dad left me and my mom and my baby brother when I was a kid. And seeing your parents’ marriage go up in flames doesn’t usually instill a lot of urge to get married yourself. Except I was the weird exception.  I guess I wanted to prove that I was better than my dad and that I could get married and be happy. But that didn’t last either. My dad left me. My wife left me. And any remaining urge of wanting to ever get married left me,” Danny explained.

The Lahiris listened intently to every word he was saying. Mira had even turned off the stove to listen fully. He looked at them, closed his eyes, and continued.

“I never told anyone that I didn’t want to get married. Usually people look at you weirdly when you mention that. I should have told Mindy though. I knew she wanted to get married and I knew she expected me to propose to her. But I just couldn’t. I should have told her before she thought that not wanting to get married was about her. It’s not about her at all. It’s about me. I can tell that I’m damaged and that the two failed marriages in my life have left me this way. I just didn’t want to hurt her. To me, marriage ends in hurt. And I never wanted to do that to Mindy. Please believe that,” Danny added, pausing to swallow back his tears.

Mira rounded the island and put an arm across Danny’s shoulders. She rubbed his back in the same comforting way his mother used to as a child.

“Danny, we know you love our daughter. We could tell within minutes of meeting you. We know you wouldn’t want to hurt her. I think she knows that too,” Mira said, soothingly.

“And we understand letting your past affect you. It happens to everyone. There was a reason we came to this country and it wasn’t the obesity and the football. We just want you to find a way, whatever way you feel comfortable, to convince our Mindy not to marry Raj,” Sunil added.

Danny popped his head up in shock. He looked back and forth between each Lahiri, trying to determine if he had heard Sunil correctly.

“Wait! You don’t want Mindy to marry Raj? I thought you set it up,” Danny asked, still puzzled.

“Yes we did. Many years ago before Mindy was ever born,” Mira explained, “But Mindy was right. Raj, while being a nice, well intentioned boy –“

“Not to mention a kiss ass,” Rishi interjected.

“Right. While being all those things, he’s just weird. And he isn’t right for Mindy. We may have thought so for a while, but I know now that he is not the man that should be with my daughter,” Mira concluded.

Danny thought this over. “And how do you know that?”

Mira made sure he was looking before she replied. “Because, Danny, I believe you are that man.”

Danny smiled a very small, almost imperceptible smile. He paused before he continued.

“That’s sweet. But I can’t give her what she wants.”

“Dude, _you’re_ what she wants,” Rishi exclaimed. Danny looked at him with an almost hopeful look in his eyes. Before he could start talking, Rishi continued. “Besides, Dad has it on good authority that Raj only proposed to Mindy to make it into his dying grandmother’s will. She’s apparently pretty sick and told him that unless he can get his life under control and be a grandson worth being proud of, he wouldn’t see a cent of her money.”

Danny looked at Rishi incredulously. Sunil just nodded glumly. “It’s true, I’m afraid.”

“And we don’t want Mindy to be married off to some person who would do that. That’s why we’re here,” Mira stated.

“Does she know you’re here?” Danny asked, secretly hoping that maybe they had brought her with them to the city and she wasn’t too far away from him.

“No she doesn’t. She thinks we’re at work and that Rishi’s off doing…something,” Sunil answered.

“Look, Danny, we aren’t asking you to marry our daughter since marriage is a tricky thing for you. We’re just asking if you still want to be with our daughter,” Mira said, looking Danny deep in the eyes.

Danny nodded before responding, “Of course I do. I’ve been miserable without her. Work was so terrible I had to leave. And you can ask Mindy, I work through anything. I’ve been sitting here the past few days racking my brains trying to figure out how I’ll live without her and I’m coming up blank.”

Mira shared a knowing smile with Sunil before looking back at Danny.

“That’s perfect.”

“Perfect for what?” Danny asked.

Mira went back over to the stove to get back to work at making the four of them a meal. She turned around after a second and said, “Perfect to set our “Get Rid of Raj” plan in motion.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, y'all's comments are making my life. Thanks!   
> I have it planned out and there's still a bit to go! I hope you'll stick with me!


	9. Lend Me Your Ear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always loved the moments when Peter gives really wise advice that seems almost out of character for him. This chapter kinda is inspired by that. I hope you enjoy!

“Hey, Man! I got here as fast as I could. I kinda had to ditch some patients with Jeremy, which leaves him with literally all of the Shulman and Associates patient list, but who cares? What’s up?” Peter rolled off as he came in Danny’s door, sitting down at his kitchen table.

“I needed to talk to someone and normally it would be Mindy but obviously that isn’t going to happen. I figured you were the closest thing to Mindy that I had,” Danny said, handing Peter a beer and then sitting down across the table from him.

“A beer? It’s like noon, Dude,” Peter pointed out.

Danny chuckled a bit. “Sorry. I guess I haven’t really been thinking about that lately.” He moved to take it back but Peter held onto it.

“I mean I’ll obviously still drink it,” Peter said, taking the bottle opener from Danny and popping it open. “So what’s up?”

Danny sighed and looked down at the table before he looked back at his friend. He didn’t know how to start this conversation, but he knew he needed to. “I, uh, am going to explain some stuff to you and I need you to give me your honest opinion of everything, okay?”

Peter scoffed, “When do I _not_ do that?”

“Good point,” Danny replied.

There was a long silence. Peter wanted him to just talk so he wasn’t so worried. Depressed Danny was not a Danny he was comfortable with. Finally Danny cleared his throat and made it seem like he was going to talk.

“So Mindy’s family came by here yesterday,” Danny started.

“Oh damn. Were they super pissed with you?”

“No, actually. I don’t know if I’ve ever met nicer people. Her mom came in and cooked a meal for us all and they explained this whole plan they came up with that is all dependent on me saying yes.”

“Yes to what?” Peter asked.

“Yes to getting Mindy back.”

“What? That’s great!” Peter exclaimed. After he looked at Danny’s face, he continued, “Why do I get the feeling you think that’s not so great?”

“Because it would be selfish of me. I’ve been selfish my entire relationship with Mindy. I can’t do it again. But then that means I lose her…forever. I don’t know what to do, Pete,” Danny said, sounding miserable.

“Why would it be selfish of you to get Mindy back?”

Danny took a swig of his beer and stared at the bottle as he continued. “I still can’t give her what she wants. Marriage…it just doesn’t work. Not for me at least. All marriage has ever done is make me feel worse. And as much as I love Mindy, I can’t risk her leaving me someday because that would be the last straw. I couldn’t come back from that.”

“Okay, but you’re kinda already there. You and Mindy currently aren’t together. Last time I saw you, she was dodging your calls,” Peter said, pausing to let it sink in with Danny. “And honestly Danny, and you did ask for my honest opinion, your reasons for not wanting to get married sound a lot like your reasons for breaking up with Mindy the last time.”

Danny choked on his beer a little. Shit. He was right.

Peter continued. “You were so afraid to even talk about your relationship and keeping it a secret ruined your relationship. You were so terrified that one day you would start fighting and hate each other and she would leave you because you were bad at relationships and then you two wouldn’t see each other again. I hate to break it to you, Danny, but that’s happening right now. I mean I don’t think you hate each other, but you know what I mean. Mindy’s hiding out in Boston and you’re sulking here.”

Danny swallowed hard. Peter was right about everything. Peter stared him down for a bit trying to gauge his reaction to it all.

“I had a friend who was a psych major at Dartmouth. He was a pretty insightful dude. He did all my homework for me,” Peter started.

“You’re a doctor…”

“Okay he did my knock-off classes’ homework for me. Feel better?”

“Slightly.”

“Anyway,” Peter continued, “One time he found me in a big freak out. I was playing beer pong with my buddies one night and I nearly died. I had been laughing pretty hard and started choking on my beer and my friends were all too drunk to help me. That minute where I kept coughing and coughing, I thought I my life was ending.”

Danny stared at him like he was an idiot. “What? How is this related?”

“Just wait, it is. So anyway, now I know I was just choking a little. But at the time I legit thought I was dying. I was due to play another game of beer pong to play for a special title with my bros and I wouldn’t do it. I was explaining this to Tony, my psych friend, and he told me some of the most insightful crap I’ve ever heard. He said, “Peter, you are better than you think you are. You can drink beer like no one’s business. You’re just scared because it was a close call last time. But just because you nearly died last time doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get back up on that horse and drink until you pass out. You can do this, Man!” And Danny, that did it.”

“I thought the point of beer pong was to drink less…”

“Yeah, Tony wasn’t a frat bro. He didn’t know how beer pong worked. He was just this nerd that helped me with stuff. But he was right, Danny. I got back on that horse and Pubes and I won the beer pong game.”

“I still don’t see how this relates, Pete,” Danny nearly whined.

“Look, Danny, your parents’ marriage ended and your dad ditched you. That sucks. I don’t pretend that it doesn’t. That’s gotta mess a kid up. But you didn’t let it mess you up when it came to marriage the first time because you got married. And yeah, your wife was a bitch and left you. And then from what I hear you briefly rekindled the old flame and that was what led to Weiner Night. Is that right? Ahh, what a good night.”

“Pete,” Danny said trying to bring him back to the topic.

“Right. So just because you choked on your beer with your ex-wife doesn’t mean it should stop you from getting up on that horse with Mindy and drinking till you pass out,” Peter said, trying to seem profound.

Danny stared at him with a look of confusion and also pity.

“Danny, I know you’re freaked out by the prospect of marriage. But what freaks you out more: being married to Mindy with the _maybe_ the possibility that one day it might end or watching her walk down the aisle and marry someone else and never seeing or working with her again. Never hearing about celebrity gossip that you really don’t care about. Never watching her shotgun a cake into her mouth to prove she can. Which image freaks you out more?”

Danny stared at Peter blankly. The future without Mindy flashed through his mind. The world without her looked a lot less colorful and not just because of a lack of her clothing. Peter watched his blank expression turn to one of almost despair.

“Pete, I know you’re right. But I’ve felt this way for years. What if I get Mindy back and I promise to marry her and then I wind up resenting it all. I come from damaged marriages,” Danny added, helplessly.

“Sure. But she doesn’t.”

Danny popped his head up and looked at Peter.

“You met her parents. Did they seem happy?”

“Yeah. They were sweet people. They seemed really happy.”

“That’s the example Mindy has. Mindy’s a fighter. Do you think if times got tough in your marriage to Mindy that she would just give up?” Danny shook his head. “Did she just give up when you broke up with her or did she try to convince you that you were being stupid?”

Danny swallowed heavily. “No. She fought me.”

Peter nodded. “Mindy comes from a successful marriage. Your parents’ marriage may have sucked and screwed you up but hers didn’t.”

“Then who am I to mess her up?”

“Maybe you won’t, Danny. You aren’t a psychic. You don’t know that if you marry Mindy it’ll end in divorce. Maybe you’ll be blissfully happy. Maybe your happy marriage will be your reason for why your last one didn’t work out. Maybe one day you’ll be able to look back and say, “Oh. I had to have my life fall apart so Mindy could help me put it back together.” But you know what will happen without Mindy? You’ll be miserable.”

Danny nodded, taking another long drink of his beer.

“Danny, you know what it’s like to have her in your life and you know what it’s like to not have her in your life. Which would you pick for the rest of your life?” Peter finished, motioning dropping the mic when looking at Danny’s thoughtful expression.

There was a long silence between them. Danny knew he was right. He couldn’t live without Mindy. He knew the only surefire way to get her back was to put marriage on the table. It still scared the crap out of him though. He didn’t want to look at Mindy the way he looks at Christina. He couldn’t live without her though. It had been almost a week since he’d talked to her and he didn’t think even at the darkest part of his divorce he felt this low.

Finally, Danny sighed, saying, “Peter, for someone trying to get over a break up, you’re a pretty big romantic.”

Peter laughed, “Yeah, well I spend a lot of time with Mindy.”

Peter could tell that Danny needed some time to think on his own. He stood up and headed for the door.

“I’m proud of you, Danny, for actually talking to someone. I know it was hard for you. I think Mindy would be proud too.”

Danny walked over to meet him by the door. “Thanks, Pete.” He offered him a pained smile and a handshake.

Peter ignored his hand and went in for a hug. He gave Danny a huge bear hug and held on for an awkwardly long amount of time. Right before he pulled away, he said into Danny’s ear, “Don’t be an idiot.”

Peter pulled away and reached for the knob. Danny nodded and watched Peter open the door. Right before Peter walked away, Danny said, “Hey Pete? Your friend Tony has nothing on you.”

Peter smiled hugely and touched his heart and mocked sniffling before winking at Danny and leaving him alone with his thoughts. Danny closed the door, leaned against it, and put his head back to rest on the door. He had been an idiot so many times in his life. Peter was right. He couldn’t be an idiot now.  

Danny dashed for his room. He pulled Wheelie out of the closet and started throwing random clothes in it. He grabbed almost everything out of the bathroom. He zipped it up, not caring what he forgot or whether anything he packed matched. Danny pulled out his phone as he ran out the door and down the hallway. He got on the elevator as she answered.

“Hello?”

“Mira, I’m on my way. And I have an idea.” 


	10. Here Comes the Bride

The day of their weddings, brides were supposed to be happy, right? Mindy stood looking in her mirror for what seemed like hours. She was staring at herself, thinking of what she had become. How had she gotten here? Why was she doing this? She was Mindy Lahiri. She had a good life. She was a successful doctor, hot as hell, and really smart. And yet here she was, on the morning of her arranged marriage.

It occurred to Mindy more than once in the last week that she had basically traded everything she loved for a moment of spite. Yes, she was mad at Danny. But the more days she was away from him, the more miserable she became. She missed Danny. She missed New York. Hell, she even missed the weirdos she worked with. All she had done since she agreed to marry Raj was stay in her parents’ house and mope. She cried herself to sleep just about every night. She often turned her phone off during the day due to the sheer amount of calls she would get from Danny. She didn’t know what to say to him so she didn’t answer.

 She was mad at him but she still loved him. She still saw her future with him even if it was an altered one. She still saw a future with him even though she was set to marry another man. Saturday she turned her phone off because she was getting a text or call from Danny about every ten to twenty minutes. She was still hurt then. As the week started out and he had patients, she only got a few calls a day. Somewhere around Wednesday, they stopped. She hoped it wouldn’t be forever. She couldn’t imagine going the rest of her life without hearing his voice or feeling his touch or looking into his eyes. She couldn’t imagine that Raj would ever come close to making her feel the way that Danny does.

Impulsive was a word that described Mindy often. She would impulsively buy things and sometimes regret it later. Sometimes her impulsivity worked in her favor. Right now, she hated nothing more than the word impulsive. She had impulsively left Danny in that hall and stormed into the banquet hall, immediately accepting Raj’s proposal. From the minute he hugged her and held her hand, she was already regretting it.

Her parents kept giving her strange looks. Mindy was confused because this was their plan, wasn’t it? Rishi stuck around to “help with wedding stuff” but really, Mindy just suspected that he wanted to see how this played out. Mindy had spent the better part of a week ignoring her family and walking around like she was half dead. She kept trying to figure a way out of this but no options were springing to her mind. She kept thinking that maybe the next time Danny called she would pick up. But around the time she started saying that, he stopped calling.

Would it be so bad if she didn’t get married? She had a man who loved her. She had a man who would do almost anything for her. Well except for getting married. But he got hit by a taxi trying to win her back. He took a punch from her ex-boyfriend without throwing one back when they ruined the funeral for Cliff’s grandma. No, Danny wasn’t perfect, but she loved him and he loved her. They had one of those relationships she watched so many movies about. They started out as enemies who couldn’t stand to be in the same room for prolonged periods of time and then became friends who relied on each other for the easy stuff and the hard stuff. They had the cliché breakup to realize they needed each other and then an incredibly passionate and loving relationship. Raj could never give her the kind of rom-com worthy story that she had always wanted. Without even trying, Danny had given it to her.

It occurred to Mindy that it had been months since she went a day without interacting with Danny in some way. Even before they got back together, they had gotten to the point where they were spending most days together. They worked together and then would eat and explore New York City together. And all that time, he’d been in love with her.

She looked over at the sari hanging on the closet door of her childhood bedroom. When she was young, she would look at her parents’ wedding photos and she would want a wedding just like theirs. She would look at the gorgeous sari her mother wore and would drape her sheets across herself to make it seem like she was wearing one as beautiful as her mother’s. But now as Mindy looked upon the garment she would have to put on in a matter of hours, it just made her sad. She walked over and touched it. Her fingers ran over the glittering jewels that adorned it. She choked back the tears that were building. She had already woken up with a puffy face and red eyes from crying herself to sleep last night. As weddings went, this was definitely not as Mindy Lahiri would have pictured hers.

Mindy went down to eat some breakfast with her family. If there was any perk of this wedding, it could be that she would get to see a lot more of her parents. Maybe they could all convince Rishi to move back and they could spend more family time together. Except if Raj tried to join them, it would ruin it. Rishi never liked him. Raj always talked down to Rishi like he wasn’t important. Mindy had barely noticed it until they were engaged. As weddings got closer, weren’t the brides supposed to romanticize their fiancé, not start realizing all their flaws and hating them more than she thought was initially possible.

“Good morning, Darling!” Mindy’s father cheered to her.

“Mmhmm. Morning, Dad,” Mindy almost growled back. She didn’t want them thinking she was in a good mood.

As she sat and ate everything that her mother put in front of her, Mindy noticed something odd. Her parents and her brother were sitting there eating at their leisure as if Mindy’s wedding wasn’t that day. Granted, Mindy didn’t really care if she got anywhere on time today, but they should be busting at the seams with excitement. Their over thirty year plan was about to come to fruition. Why weren’t they more jittery? Why weren’t they pressing her to eat faster so she could get ready to leave? Why didn’t they even mention the wedding until Mindy got up to go shower? Her mother looked positively serene. Could she be that oblivious to her daughter’s own personal hell?

Her family had been acting so strange the last few days. They had been cautious around her the whole time but the last few days they had started to seem straight up evasive, like they were keeping something from her. They couldn’t have some kind of secret though. The only time she’d left the house was to pick up her sari and that only took an hour. They’d really been weird lately though. Wednesday night, Mindy went in for a hug with Rishi and she swore he smelled like Danny’s apartment. She started to break down again and her parents just kind of ignored her. Initially if she had broken down around them, they would try and comfort her even though every time they failed. Something was up with her family and she wanted to know what.  

Mindy was dressed in her sari and riding in the back of her father’s car on the way to the ceremony. Indian weddings were cool but Mindy always found them to last so long. She fell asleep during the last one she went to. Hopefully she could at least manage to stay awake today. She wouldn’t be _too_ surprised if her own self-hatred put her to sleep.

There was a back room where Mindy’s mother fawned over her. It was about a half hour until the wedding. As Mindy looked at herself in the mirror, she noted her beauty. It couldn’t be denied, she looked damn gorgeous. She wished Danny could see her like this. She wished her friends were here. She wished so many things for this wedding that wouldn’t come true. As she watched her mother drape jewelry over her, she remembered her last wedding. At least at this one, the groom wasn’t going to pee on her. There was a part, granted a very small part, that wished that her groom was Casey. If it couldn’t be Danny, the man that she had most recently been picturing the rest of her life with, maybe it could be someone who she had also once seen a future with.

Her wedding to Casey had been thrown together so fast. Maybe even faster than this one. But when it came to the day she was still happy. It may not have been anything fancy and it may not have actually happened, but she didn’t have the same sense of dread that was drenching her right now. She thought back on that day and how when she was hiding out from everyone, the only person who knew where to find her was Danny. She thought of his advice about Casey. “As long as you’re not pretending to like the guy you’re about to marry,” he’d said. She couldn’t even work up enough of a façade to pretend to like Raj right now.

Panic matched with the dread came over her quickly. Much like the time on the fire escape, she had to get out of there. Mindy brushed her mother off, grabbed her phone, and ran out a side door into a garden on the side of the building. She sat down on a stone bench and unlocked her phone. She started scrolling through pictures on her phone. It was fairly obvious when she started dating Danny because suddenly all her selfies had another person in them. A lot of them, he wasn’t even smiling or looking at the camera, but she still looked so happy. There were the few where his beaming expression matched her own. Mindy sat there staring at a picture of the two of them from a boat in Central Park as tears built in her eyes.

Mindy remembered that day pretty clearly. They hadn’t been dating again for very long. They were “coming up for air” as they had jokingly put it. She had joked that they could only have so much sex. He seemed to think otherwise. She all but demanded that she wanted to do something that could actually be called a date. She had to remind him that working a delivery together did _not_ count as a date. So one way or another, they had ended up at Central Park and she convinced him to actually spend money and rent a boat for a couple of hours. As they paddled away, they kept chatting and laughing and genuinely just enjoying being together. Mindy had to take a picture to commemorate it. And then she had to take about fifteen more to make sure she commemorated it. As she scrolled through the pictures from that day, she came across one where she was posing for a selfie and Danny kissed her on the cheek, surprising her. That was when the tears started falling. She tried to stop them, but she knew it was no use.

Finally, Mindy did what she should have done a week ago. She pulled up her contacts and called Danny. Her heart rate picked up and her hands were shaking, but she had to do it. She had to at least hear his voice.  It rang and rang and finally went to voicemail. And naturally technologically terrible Danny had the automated voicemail box. She heard his number read out to her as she started to hiccup from her crying. All she had wanted to hear was his voice and she couldn’t even do that.

Mindy did her best to dry her tears, but they wouldn’t stop flowing. She was about to make the biggest mistake of her life and she consciously knew it. Maybe she should run. Julia Roberts did like eighty times in Runaway Bride. She had a perfectly good life waiting for her back in New York. And yes, her mother had planned her entire wedding for her in the matter of a week (but how hard could that be when she’d been planning it Mindy’s whole life?). But her parents loved her. Surely they’d forgive her for wanting her own life. They wanted her to be happy didn’t they?

Mindy clicked on Danny’s name again, in hopes that maybe he would answer this time. When he didn’t, she figured she couldn’t wait out there much longer. She wiped her tears, not caring if she was smearing her makeup. For once, Mindy Lahiri didn’t really care what she looked like. She stood up and strode back in to greet her mother. Her mother gave her the purest look of pity. She pulled out a tissue and dabbed at Mindy’s face.

“Mindy, I know you’re sad right now. I know. But believe me, honey, things don’t always go as you’d imagine. Sometimes things change and sometimes it’s for the better. You never know what will happen. Keep your chin up, this isn’t the end of your life; it’s the beginning of a new chapter.”

Mindy nodded, hoping her mother wasn’t just spewing advice she thought Mindy wanted to hear. She hoped that came from a place of honesty because as she started walking toward the ceremony room, it was feeling like a death march. Maybe she should run. The doors hadn’t opened yet, no one could stop her. She was by herself. Her parents had moved in to their places. As she stood there, she wished she had gotten ahold of Danny, even if just to tell him that he was a good man and that she still loved him. God, did she still love him.

Without much warning, the doors opened and Mindy was expected to walk down the aisle. There was a good amount of people on either side, all turned and looking at her. This was the moment she had been waiting her whole life for, and right now she wished she was literally anywhere else. She started moving at a glacial pace. Her mother’s words kept echoing through her head. “You don’t know what will happen.” Mindy kept looking back and forth at all her guests. She wouldn’t look up at the altar until she absolutely had to. She watched her feet when she wasn’t looking at people. She could tell she was getting close to the altar, close to her personal doom. When Mindy finally looked up it wasn’t Raj waiting for her. It was Danny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're still reading this, thanks!! I appreciate all the love!!


	11. Long Time No See

Mindy stood frozen. She couldn’t believe he was actually there. He was staring back at her rather blank faced. It was as if he didn’t want to spook her. She glanced over at her parents who were sporting rather excited faces. She looked around at the crowd to see that no one thought anything was weird. Mindy finally looked back at Danny before backing up the aisle slowly. Immediately a panicked look crossed Danny’s face. He made a move toward her and reached out. She made eye contact with him and nodded her head toward the door. He looked at her confusedly. She nervously looked back and forth at everyone before looking back at him and motioning for him to follow her. He slowly got the hint and followed her as she went back up the aisle, heading for the garden she had been sitting in just previously.

“Mindy, where are you going?” Danny asked, a few steps behind her. She didn’t reply. She walked through the bride’s room, opened the door and gestured for him to walk through. Once outside, he turned around to look at her when she pinched him.

“Ow! What was that for?” Danny asked, massaging his arm where she pinched him.

“I’m making sure you’re real,” Mindy replied simply.

“I’m pretty sure you’re usually supposed to pinch yourself to see if you’re dreaming. Which you aren’t. Dreaming, I mean,” Danny answered.

Mindy paused and evaluated him. There was a space between them, though neither of them moved to close it. They both seemed too hesitant.

Finally, Mindy started to ask all the questions running through her mind.

“Danny, what are you doing here?”

“I thought it was pretty obvious what I was doing,” Danny replied as he chuckled.

“Danny this isn’t funny. Why are you here? I need to know,” Mindy pleaded.

Danny paused, evaluating her expression. “Min, I’m here for you. I’m here because never in my life have I been more miserable and more hopeless than I was this last week. I’m here because I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Mindy felt tears building behind her eyes. She needed to hear everything before she broke down. She tried to fight off the tears but they started glistening in her eyes, blurring her vision a little.

“But you realize what would have happened if I hadn’t dragged you out of there right?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if I hadn’t freaked out, we would be getting married right now,” Mindy answered.

“Yeah, I did realize that as a matter of fact. I mean that’s kind of why I was waiting at the altar.”

Mindy huffed a little, not understanding how he could be so nonchalant about this.

“Danny, I don’t get it. A week ago you kept freaking out and saying you couldn’t marry me and implying that you had felt this way for years. That’s a pretty big change to make in seven days. How am I supposed to believe that you really want this?”

“Because I really want you,” Danny answered simply. “Mindy, I don’t think I can explain to you the level of low I reached this week. I wasn’t even working. I went to work Monday and had to leave because not seeing you was killing me. I kept hoping you’d come in and we could figure all this out, but you didn’t. Every time I left my office I had to force myself to not look for you. After Monday afternoon, I just gave up. I’d never felt this bad before. Not after my divorce, not even after our breakup. And I realized why. Because when I was an idiot and left you, I still saw you. It was selfish, yeah, but you were there. You didn’t want to talk to me or have anything to do with me, but I had this hope down in my stomach that one day you would again. One day you would walk by my office again instead of taking whatever route around it that you could. I had this hope that one day our situation might fix itself. But with you here in Boston, I had no hope. You were marrying another man and you were gone, out of my life, seemingly forever. And I couldn’t take it. That’s why I kept calling you, even when you never answered. I kept thinking that maybe one time you’d pick it up and I could hear your voice and you would actually want to talk to me. But you didn’t. And I understood. I was a dick. And I kept going through phases where I was fine moving on and letting you go because I thought it meant you were happy.” Danny paused, moving forward to brush away the tears streaming down Mindy’s face.

“Danny, I could never be as happy with anyone else. Especially not Raj.”

“And then your parents showed up and told me precisely how unhappy you were and I said screw it. I would do whatever it took to get you back. Because even if it’s me being selfish, I have to have you Mindy.”

Mindy had clutched his hand as he wiped away her tears. She leaned her head into it as she processed what he was saying. Suddenly her head popped back up and she stared back at him.

“Wait! My parents showed up? In New York?”

“Yeah. They came with Rishi to talk to me.”

“About what?”

“About how worried they were about you and how they had been mistaken thinking What’s-His-Face was a good guy. They came to try and convince me to fight for you.”

“So this wasn’t your idea?” Mindy asked, disheartened.

“Mindy, if I had thought you would be receptive, I would never have left Boston. I kept waiting for you to come back to New York so I could fight for you. So I could show you why I was the better man for you. But you didn’t come back and I thought that meant it was it. I thought it meant I should give up.”

“So what? You realized it sucks to be alone and suddenly you want to get married?” Mindy asked, refusing to give in until she could tell what she was giving in to.

“No. It’s not that I was alone, Mindy. It was that _you_ weren’t there. It was that I realized I would do anything to make you happy enough to take me back. It was that I realized that I needed to try and get over my personal demons and not let them define me and dictate my relationships. It’s that I realized that even if marriage still kind of scares me, I would rather spend my life getting over that with you than watch you spend the rest of your life with someone else. Especially someone who isn’t worthy of you. Someone who would propose to get money from a dying relative. It was never because –“

“Wait, that was why Raji proposed?!” Mindy nearly shrieked, interrupting Danny’s speech.

“Uh, yeah, apparently. Your dad said he had it on good authority.”

“That bastard,” Mindy scoffed. She paused, evaluating everything Danny had just said. “Look, Danny, I don’t want you to marry me because you think you have to only to have you end up resenting me one day. I love you. And I—“

“I could never resent you. It wasn’t marrying _you_. It was marriage. But you aren’t me. And you aren’t my dad. And you aren’t Christina. You have a great example of a loving, happy marriage. You’re a fighter. You’d never leave because things got hard. That’s not your style. I’ve just only ever experienced marriages with people that did leave because it got hard.”

“I understood why you didn’t want to get married. I’m not a monster, Danny. I didn’t expect you to come out of everything unscathed. I was just mad that you never told me. And you know me, sometimes I freak out in a totally irrational and impulsive way. You aren’t always the only idiot.”

Danny chuckled. He closed a bit more of the space between them, still leaving some room.

“Mindy, I love you and –“

“I love you, too.”

“And I want to do whatever it is that will make you happy, that will make you feel deserved, that will make you feel like you got everything you want out of life. And if that’s marriage, then I’m in. I can’t go another week without talking to you or seeing you or hearing your laugh. Do you know how many of your movies I watched this week? A lot.”

Mindy started laughing and moved closer to Danny. Finally she got close enough that she wrapped him into a hug, closing her arms around his torso. He wrapped her in close and rested his head against hers.

“I think I took you for granted. I don’t know when the last time I’ve gone a full week without even a hint of your presence. I think I took your part in my life for granted. I mean even when we weren’t dating, you were there. Even when we broke up, you were there. And when I wanted to see you and hold you the most, you weren’t. And it hit me like a ton of bricks,” Danny admitted, tightening his arms around her.

Mindy sniffled a bit before replying. “Yeah, I know the feeling. I don’t know if I’ve ever broken down this much in the span of a week. My parents were probably ready to commit me. I thought I smelled your apartment on Rishi and practically started convulsing. I guess if he was there, that makes more sense now.” She paused. “Is it sad that we can’t go a week without the other? Does that make us too needy?” Mindy pulled back to read Danny’s expression.

“Nah. I think we were only so bad because we thought it was the end,” Danny replied, thoughtfully. “I kept calling you because I couldn’t accept that it might be the end.”

“You stopped though. That was when I really got bad. I had stopped being mad at you and I was ready to talk. I thought of something to say for the next time you called. But you didn’t.”

“It was because I was up here. I thought it might be obvious if I called you from downstairs.”

“Wait,” Mindy said, pulling back to look at him, “You were in my house and I didn’t even know it?”

“Yeah. I was there to arrange things with your parents. It wasn’t very long on Thursday night.”

“Thursday night? I guess I was mostly hidden upstairs then. Except, I think I went down for a huge bowl of ice cream and I talked to my parents and my brother and they all seemed totally normal. Where were you?”

“Oh yeah, I was hidden in the kitchen pantry. It was interesting, having the parents hide the guy. It’s not usually how that is played out,” Danny answered, chuckling to himself.

She shook her head, laughing. All at once, she stopped laughing and she looked him in the eye.

“Are you sure you would want to do this?”

“Yes.”

“Because I don’t want to force you to –“

“Mindy, I love you. And I need to have you with me. I’m far too selfish a man to let anyone else have you. Am I sure that I want to spend the rest of my life with you? There’s no question in my mind.”

Mindy looked at Danny and could see everything he was saying on his face. He was truly holding nothing back from here. There were no walls up. He was just being straight with her. As she stood there looking at him, he started to lean in to kiss her. She started to lean in too when a thought popped in her mind, pulling her back.

“So that’s why you didn’t answer me! It wasn’t because you hate me and you moved on, it was because you were standing there waiting for me!” Mindy exclaimed.

“What do you mean?” Danny asked, not following her statement.

“I finally broke down and called you. Actually I think it was like fifteen minutes ago. But you didn’t answer. I was devastated. Also, as a doctor, as a _professional_ I think you need to change your voicemail because all I wanted to hear was your damn voice but that automated message –“

Mindy’s rant was interrupted by Danny’s lips crashing against hers. He couldn’t take it any longer. It had been too long. She didn’t waste any time responding to his eagerness. As they were kissing, she moved her arms up his back, landing a hand in his hair, bringing him even closer to her. He acted similarly, as he tightened his arm around her waist, bringing her flush against him. His other hand was on her cheek, trying to bring her as close as possible. They kept kissing, their tongues meeting, their passions fueling. They kissed as if they were starving for it. Honestly, they were. Finally, feeling a need for air, they broke apart, resting their foreheads together. Danny caressed her cheek, almost absentmindedly.

“I’m sorry,” Mindy started. “I’ve missed you so much. I should have just introduced you to my parents a long time ago. I should never have agreed to marry someone just because I was mad at you.” She could feel Danny nod against her, where their heads were still touching.

“I’m sorry. I should have been upfront with you from the start. I always knew what you wanted. I shouldn’t have been so stupid.”

“Danny, you’re allowed to want different things. It’s just helpful to know that,” Mindy offered.

“All I want is you.”

Mindy reached up and placed her hand on his cheek, stroking her thumb across it. After a bit, Danny pulled back. He grabbed both of her hands and held them in his. He looked at her appreciatively.

“I don’t think I’ve mentioned how absolutely gorgeous you look right now. I mean you always look beautiful, but especially so now.”

Mindy smiled. “I don’t believe you have. You look pretty great yourself. I have to say, you clean up well, Castellano. Not that I didn’t already know that.” They paused, smiling at each other, happy to just be in each other’s presence again.

“I guess we should get back, right?”

Mindy didn’t respond.

“We should head back in there and go get married,” Danny said.

“No,” Mindy replied, “I don’t want to.”

“What?” Danny asked, looking a bit panicked. “Mindy…”

“I mean not like this,” Mindy followed, a smug smile creeping across her face. “Though that’s not great to hear, now is it?” Mindy asked, giving Danny a light but swift punch to the arm.

“Okay, okay. I apologized, didn’t I?”

“Yes you did. But I’m serious, Danny. I don’t want to get married right here.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to have the wedding my mom threw together in a matter of days. I want _our_ wedding. I want our friends to be there and not a bunch of random people we don’t know. I want it to celebrate us. And can you imagine how pissed your mother would be if we got married without her? Or how pissed Morgan would be if we got married without him?”

Danny laughed, “Yeah, I could see that on both counts.”

“Besides, you’re pretty presumptuous, Castellano. You haven’t even proposed to me yet, and you just assume I’m gonna marry you? Damn.”

Mindy laughed and grabbed Danny’s hand, turning to head back inside. He squeezed her hand, saying, “Min, wait.” Mindy turned around to look at him and found him down on one knee. She could feel her heart beat rising and her breathing shorten. She brought one hand up to her mouth as she tried to cover up her gasp.

Danny looked up at her with nothing but joy on his face. “Mindy Lahiri, the love of my life and my best friend. Will you marry me?”

“Oh my God. Oh my God.”

Danny looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer other than her freaking out.

“Min?”

“Sorry! Yes! Yes! Of course I will!” She lunged toward him, kneeling down in front of him. She waited patiently for him to slide the gorgeous ring on her finger before attacking him with her mouth. She kissed every part of his face. She finally settled on his mouth and they kissed passionately and happily before breaking apart, getting up and heading back inside.

Before they got back to the actual room, she stopped him. He looked at her questioningly. She went up on her tip toes and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Thank you.”

Danny smiled. “For what?”

“For still not giving up on me when it looked like it was all over. And for turning one of the worst days of my life into the best day of my life.”

Danny leaned down to kiss her quickly. “I should thank you for the same reason. You never give up on me, even though you should have a long time ago.”

Mindy shook her head, “I could never give up on the love of my life.”

They smiled at each other, quickly kissing again before joining hands and marching forward to greet whatever reaction was coming.


	12. Let's Pretend

Danny got into work before everyone else on Monday, even Mindy. He had been preoccupied for an hour or so doing paperwork that he had neglected in his depression and absence from work. He could hear people filing into the office to start their mornings. He kept waiting to hear Mindy’s voice. He was getting that giddy feeling of anticipation, knowing that he would actually get to see her at work again.

They had spent the rest of the weekend in Boston. She had wanted to spend a bit more time with her family. She promised them that she wouldn’t go as long without seeing them again. Her parents drove them to the train station. Before leaving, Danny thanked her parents profusely for coming and finding him in New York. He noted mentally that he would never quite be able to thank them enough. Mindy hugged both her parents for a long time. As they boarded the train, Danny noticed Mindy swiping away a stray tear or two. He didn’t mention it, but grabbed her hand in his as they found their seats. She smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder. She was asleep within a matter of minutes. He didn’t care though, he was just happy to have her next to him again.

Danny could hear some murmurs outside his office. He could tell that his coworkers were trying to determine if he was actually in there. Finally he heard Morgan’s voice above the others assuring them he’d find something out. He knew within seconds, Morgan would be in his office. He had to adjust his facial expression. He was fairly certain he’d had a smile on his face since the moment Mindy accepted his proposal. Mindy had decided that she wanted the opportunity to break the news to everyone in her own way. So Danny had to wait until she was there to seem happy about anything.

Suddenly the door opened and Morgan marched in, spotted Danny, freaked out, and ran back out, slamming the door behind him. That was not the reaction he was expecting.

“No. Guys! He’s in there! Oh God!” Danny could hear Morgan yelling to the others. For at least another thirty minutes, no one else came in his office, but he could see people walking by, pausing, and carrying on.

Around 9:30, because of course she wasn’t on time, Danny finally heard Mindy’s approach.

“Hello there, Bitches! I’m back!” Mindy announced cheerfully. She looked over and noted a patient looking bothered by her outburst. “I’m so sorry ma’am. I didn’t mean you. I meant these bitches,” Mindy explained, gesturing to the staff of the office.

Jeremy, Peter, and Danny all came out of their offices at nearly the same time. Peter and Jeremy looked at Mindy and looked over at Danny to see what was going to happen.

“Sorry I’m a bit late, guys, I didn’t really get much sleep last night, if you know what I mean,” Mindy added, waggling her eyebrows a bit. Danny smirked smugly at his paperwork, hiding a laugh behind a cough.

Jeremy decided he should jump into action before Mindy said anything else.

“Mindy! Here you are!”

“Yep! I’m here.”

“Is this about our conversation? I was led to believe we’d be having that over phone or email. I didn’t think your presence would be around the office yet. You know, some patients or coworkers don’t like to be surprised by these things,” Jeremy said, nervously glancing at Danny who was pretending to be caught up in paperwork.

“So sorry to break it to you, Jeremy, but I’m not here about that. I’m here for work,” Mindy informed him. “Oh God! You didn’t already replace me? I’ll kill whoever is trying to steal my job. I still own a third of this practice!”

“Wait, you’re staying here?” Peter asked slowly.

“That’s the plan. I love this place. Why would I work anywhere else?” Mindy said cheerfully.

Peter and Jeremy exchanged nervous glances. They both looked over at Danny trying to gauge his reaction. He was giving them nothing to work with though.

Peter started to respond nervously, “Well, Mindy…we just…uh…didn’t know if you’d still want to work here…with certain…uh…people…”

“I’ve always been fine with the people here. I think I’ll be good,” Mindy answered.

“So you’re staying in New York then? No Boston?” Jeremy asked.

“Well it’d be a hella long commute from Boston, am I right?” Mindy joked.

“So you aren’t moving to Boston?” Peter inquired.

“Nope. My fiancé and I decided New York was ultimately better for us. It’s more our speed,” Mindy replied happily.

“Your, your…fiancé?” Jeremy choked out, glancing quickly at Danny.

Suddenly Morgan walked in from one of the exam rooms. “Oh my God! You’re here!” Morgan ran over and enveloped Mindy in a large hug. She waited a few seconds before fighting him off.

“Getting back to this whole fiancé deal, Mindy…” Jeremy started, trying to get Mindy’s attention back.

“Yeah? What about him?” Mindy asked.

“You’ll be staying here?”

“Yes…”

“Oh God. You aren’t going to like bring him around the office are you?” Peter asked, almost disgustedly.

“Why? You guys have all brought your people here!” Mindy challenged, extending the ruse.  The whole time, Danny just kept his head down, feigning working while they all bickered. He knew one look at Mindy would give him away.

“Mindy, I’m afraid I can’t allow you to bring him here,” Jeremy said assuming authority.

“I’m sorry, but I work here too and do just as much as you do, Jeremy. I’ll bring whoever I damn well want by.”

“Wait, does that apply to all of us?” Morgan asked.

Ignoring him, Peter looked at Mindy like she was heartless. “Mindy, think of how that might affect people in this office.”

“What’s the big deal?”

“Mindy, I can’t believe you can’t see how this might be problematic. I mean I don’t let Lauren come by the office anymore because I know things will be awkward with Peter. The least you could do is respect the people you work with,” Jeremy said, volume starting to grow.

Mindy stayed silent for a second. She made eye contact with Peter first who gave her an imploring look. She shifted over and looked at Jeremy who looked positively exasperated. Finally she let her eyes fall on Danny. She smirked for a second before dropping it.

“I think this is totally unfair. This is racist and sexist and probably a lot of other things I’ll come up with once this fight is over and I’ve been in my office for ten minutes,” Mindy rambled on. “But fine, you guys don’t care about my fiancé.”

“I’m sorry, Mindy, but we just don’t,” Peter replied.

“Fine,” Mindy said, walking toward her office. She went in the doorway, took off her jacket, set down her purse and started for her desk. She turned back toward the lobby as if she was remembering something. “Oh! So did I not tell you that my fiancé is Danny?” Mindy asked with a positively shit-eating grin on her face.

Danny finally picked up his head and looked at Mindy, laughing at her dramatic reveal.

Peter, Jeremy, and Morgan all looked between the two of them as if it was a tennis match.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Jeremy started, “You two are _engaged_?”

“Yes. Mindy and I are engaged,” Danny replied proudly, looking at Mindy happily.

“Seriously? You guys aren’t just messing with us?” Peter asked desperately.

“Does that really sound like something we would have done after last week, Peter?” Mindy asked.

“So my two favorite people in the world are getting…married?” Morgan asked cautiously.

Without taking his eyes off Mindy, Danny replied, “Yes, Morgan, we are.”

“So you guys aren’t going through a weird breakup where you’re obviously both still in love with each other?” Peter asked.

“Do you really think we would fake this?” Mindy asked Peter.

“No. I just want to make sure. You have to be sure,” Peter said.

“Please tell me that this means you both will be actually coming to work again! I can’t handle it being two doctors here,” Jeremy whined.

“Yes, Jeremy,” Mindy whined back, “Danny and I will be working.”

“Yeah you will be! Danny’s gonna have to pick up extra deliveries to pay for whatever crazy wedding you’re gonna want, Mindy,” Peter laughed out excitedly.

Danny looked rather horrified.

“Damn it, Peter. Do you see what you’ve done?” Mindy chided. She wandered out of her office and toward Danny. She put her arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. She leaned toward his ear and whispered, “Don’t worry, I haven’t really started planning anything.”

Danny smiled, leaning over to kiss her, not caring that the whole office was watching.

Morgan and Peter both whistled while Jeremy urged everyone to get back to work.

Mindy and Danny broke apart, separating to go to their respective offices after celebratory hugs and handshakes from their coworkers.

Around lunchtime, Danny was leaving his office and out of habit, looked toward Mindy’s office. He noticed her messing with her name plate. She turned around, noticing him. She beamed at him and winked before walking back in her office. He walked over to her office and looked at her name plate. Upon seeing it, an uncontrollable wave of joy overcame Danny. Taped over the name plate was a piece of paper that in curly writing read: **Future Dr. Mindy Castellano**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 12 was originally set to be the last chapter but I wanted to see the reaction from their friends. So there is one more chapter (unless I figure out a way to drag this out!).   
> If you are still reading this, Thank you!! All the comments and kudos are VERY appreciated!! :)  
> Hope you're enjoying!!


	13. Happily Ever After??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be the last chapter but I had so much I wanted to get in and it was getting a bit long so I decided to break it up into two chapters.  
> So here is The End part 1!  
> Enjoy!

Danny couldn’t deny it. He was impressed by how quickly Mindy threw their wedding together. It had only been three months since the Boston debacle and their wedding was in two days. Mindy had been crazy stressed of course trying to get it all planned, but she kept saying she didn’t want to wait any longer.

Danny was concerned that she wanted such a short engagement so he wouldn’t have time to back out. He knew that reassuring her probably wouldn’t do very much to actually reassure her. About two weeks after they got engaged, he started leaving her little notes. He would leave her a note a day with a reason of why he wanted to marry her. Some days he would leave them at home and others at work. Some days it would be something small like her smile and others it would be something big like how he couldn’t imagine his life without her. He was doing these little things to make sure she knew he was all in and actually meant it.

The last three months had passed in a blur of details. Cakes, dresses, locations, people. Everything was up for debate though they didn’t have long to debate it. Mindy was aiming for simplicity, though her level of simplicity was far off from his. This week had been crunch time to make sure everything was in place. At least to Danny, everything seemed ready to go. Mindy was still fretting over details. She had practically made Morgan her personal slave. She attended to the finer things and he did the grunt work for her. Danny wasn’t exactly pleased at how often Morgan had been at their home the last few weeks. He missed having alone time with Mindy.

That afternoon, Danny was sitting at his desk pouring over some paperwork when Mindy walked into his office. He heard the door open, popped his head up and spotted her, and looked back down at his work.

“Hey Babe! What’s up?” He greeted her, not looking up.

Mindy was silent for a minute, leaving Danny worried. He popped his head up when she didn’t immediately respond. When he actually saw her, he noticed her red eyes and tears running down her cheeks. He jumped out of his chair to sit in the one next to her.

“Min? What’s wrong?” He asked in a concerned tone, taking her face in his hands.

“Danny…are we…moving too fast?” Mindy asked slowly.

“What do you mean?”

“Danny, think about it. We’re about to get married and we haven’t even actually been together for a year. Unless you include the time before we broke up the first time, which I don’t.”

“Mindy, where is this coming from?”

“I don’t know. I was just thinking about where I was a year ago. And I was single and lonely and we weren’t together. And now we’re about to be married. That’s really fast, Danny.”

“Yeah. It kind of is. But we love each other. I was ready to marry you three months ago,” Danny said, trying to calm her down. It didn’t work.

“But it’s still so fast. Yeah it’s three months later but we still haven’t been together that long.”

“Well, who cares about how long we’ve been together. How about this? I’ve loved you for well over a year,” Danny stated, rubbing her cheek.  Mindy sighed and leaned into his hand. He hoped that was a good sign. “Mindy Lahiri, I love you so damn much and I don’t care that it’s been only 10 months. We have been friends for years. We know pretty much everything we need to know about each other. We love each other, we trust each other, and we can do this.”

Mindy started nodding quickly. She reached out and touched Danny’s cheek like he was. Leaning forward, she kissed him quickly.

“Thanks, Danny. I think I’ve just been caught up in planning this wedding that we haven’t really had any “us time” lately. It made me worried when I started thinking about everything. You really aren’t worried?”

“Nope,” Danny assured her, squeezing her hands. “Though hearing you be so worried feels great.”

“I’m not _that_ worried. Just scared that maybe we’re moving too fast.”

“So what if we are? We can set our own pace. Who cares?”

Mindy smiled and looked at Danny appreciatively. She was aware of how lucky she was to be marrying Danny. She was aware of how supportive and loving he always was with her. She was aware of how excited she was for the upcoming weekend, no matter how worried she might have also been. She leaned across her chair and kissed him. He grabbed her face and held her there, deepening the kiss. They sat there that way, kissing slowly before there was a knock at the door.

They broke apart as Morgan came in. “Dr. C, your next patient is here. Are you ready for her or should I tell her you’re about to do your fiancée and she can wait fifteen minutes?”

Danny groaned. “No, Morgan. I’m ready.”

“Just checking…” Morgan said before sliding out the door.

Danny stood up, grabbing Mindy’s hand to drag her up with him.

“Are you okay? Are _we_ okay?” Danny asked, dipping his head a little to look her dead in the eye.

She smiled and nodded happily. “Yeah. We’re better than okay.” She leaned forward to kiss him one last time before traipsing out of his office.

It was Friday night after the rehearsal dinner. Danny was staying at his mother’s house out in Staten. Mindy was staying in the city but she had friends with her. No matter how much Danny might want to see her, he knew that someone would get in their way to uphold the tradition.

He was lying on his bed when he got the call from her.

“Danny?” Mindy asked, sounding a bit panicked.

“Min? What’s wrong? Are you freaking out again?”

“No. I’m not freaking out. Well, not about that. I need to see you,” Mindy said, her voice shaking a bit.

“What about your friends? They won’t let me in.”

“I’m not at the apartment. I’m at work. I figured it was a neutral place. Please come, Danny. Please!”

Danny could hear the desperation in her voice. It scared him. “Hey, hey! It’s gonna be okay, Min. I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”

“Okay,” She said in a small voice.

Danny lied to his mother and said he got paged to the hospital. She probably didn’t believe him, but she let him go anyway. Danny got in a cab and wished it would go faster. Mindy had freaked him out. He’d never heard her voice so raw and so scared. He had no clue what was going on. Was she having cold feet?  Was she going to back out on the wedding? The trip from Staten to Manhattan had truly never felt so long. As they pulled up to the office, he paid the cabbie and ran inside, taking the stairs so he didn’t have to wait for the elevator.

Danny was sweating profusely by the time he got to the third floor and into the office. He spotted her light on in her office. He ran over in that direction. He stopped and started panting in the doorway. Looking in, he saw her sitting in a ball in her office chair with her head down. Still concerned, he walked over and knelt down in front of her.

“Min?” He asked desperately. Her head popped up and she threw herself out of her chair and into his arms. At the force, he fell back into a sitting position and she landed on top of him.

“Hey, you okay?”

She still didn’t answer.

“Mindy, you’re freaking me out right now. What’s going on?”

She picked her head up off his shoulder and looked him deep in the eyes. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find the words. Finally she got up off of him and he stood up with her. She grabbed a box off her desk and held it in front of him.

Mindy cleared her throat before speaking. “I, uh, wanted to give you your wedding present…”

Danny sighed. There had to be more to this. “Min, we said we weren’t going to do that.”

“Believe me, I didn’t buy anything.”

“Is this seriously why you called me here this late at night? You sounded completely panicked, Min. I’ve been freaking out since I talked to you. And it was just about a present?”

Mindy made eye contact with Danny and he could see tears glistening in her eyes. “I know it sounds crazy, Danny, but I think you’ll get it when you open it,” she said, extending out the long, narrow box to him.

Danny nodded, taking it from her and shucking off the paper. He opened the box, stared at the contents open mouthed and wide eyed. He looked back up at her with a look of pure shock on his face, though there was an undercurrent of pure happiness too.

“Min, is this real?”

She swallowed and nodded.

“But how did you…but you haven’t…I’m…” Danny trailed off, unable to get out his thoughts. Finally he could form the words. “You’re pregnant?”

She smiled and nodded again, the tears leaving her eyes. “Remember when we got back from Boston three months ago, how we were, uh…enthusiastic to be back together?”

Danny smirked and nodded.

“Well I’m guessing at some point, it happened.”

“But you haven’t had any symptoms. I would have noticed,” Danny questioned.

“I know. I didn’t even really notice that I wasn’t having a period. I think I got so caught up in planning the wedding that I stopped paying attention to my own body. I have thrown up a few times but I never thought it could be morning sickness. I always just assumed I ate something weird. It was so random; I could never time any of the symptoms I had.”

“What made you decide to take a test?” Danny asked, gesturing to the positive test she had given him.

“I was talking with my friends and one of them was bitching about her period and it hit me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had even had mine. So I faked a page, bought a test, came here, ran my own sample so I could be sure, and then there it was: two positives,” Mindy explained.

Danny pulled her into his arms as he felt tears building in his eyes. “Why didn’t you call me sooner? I could have been here with you while you waited.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t want to freak you out over nothing,” Mindy replied.

Danny pulled back, cupping her face in his hands. “Freak out? Mindy, why would I freak out? This is great news!”

Mindy opened her mouth to respond but Danny didn’t let her. He grabbed her face to his, kissing her. He was trying to pour every emotion he was feeling into their kiss. He stroked her face as they kissed, still trying to reassure her. Finally he broke away, looking in her eyes. He wanted her to see the sincerity of what he was going to say.

“Mindy, I don’t think I could be happier about this,” he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “We’re gonna have a baby!” Danny said excitedly, running his hands up and down her arms.

Mindy looked at Danny’s happy face and sighed, finally feeling relief. She smiled up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“We’re gonna have a baby.”


	14. Castellano Ever After

Mindy’s mind was really not on the wedding as she got ready with her friends. Her hair was done, she was in her sari, and all she had to do was sit tight for a few more minutes before the wedding started. She looked around as Gwen, Maggie, Alex, and Tamra were fawning over her beauty. She smiled at them but couldn’t take her mind off of the night before. She couldn’t stop thinking about how she was carrying a baby. Her and Danny’s baby. They were having a baby. Basically, the wedding she had thrown together in a matter of months was now pushed out of the top seed thoughts wise.

“Mindy, you seem like you are somewhere else today,” Gwen said, pulling Mindy out of her trance.

“What?”

“Is everything alright? You seem distracted. Was it your delivery last night? Did you not get enough sleep?” Gwen interrogated, going into full mom mode. Mindy couldn’t focus on her questions because she started wondering when she would go into full mom mode and how Danny would inevitably go into full dad mode. It left little brain function for such things like answering questions.

“Mindy!”

Mindy snapped back to reality. “Sorry! I guess I’m just a bit tired. And the excitement is draining me a bit.

“Well snap out of it, girl! God willing, you only get married once. I think you’ll want to be present for it,” Maggie said.

“You’re right. You’re all right. Sorry,” Mindy replied. She glanced around at her friends and took in their appearances. “You know, I didn’t know how you all would look in white, but I’m liking it!”

“You just like the fact that you get to be the one in color!” Alex countered.

“I mean yeah, you know color is my thing.”

“But you’re still wearing white to the reception, right?” Gwen asked.

“Oh yeah! I’m not wasting a gorgeous dress that I spent an insane amount of money on. That’s when you guys get to change into your colored dresses! It’ll be so exciting!”

“I think you need to learn the definition of exciting, Dr. L,” Tamra said bluntly.

Mindy was about to reply when her mother traipsed in the room. She could see the tears filling her eyes the moment she looked at Mindy.

“Mom! You said you wouldn’t cry till the actual wedding,” Mindy whined out.

Her mother sniffled a bit, wrapping her in a hug, “Well I guess I lied.”

Mindy had to fight back tears after seeing her mother cry. Mira pulled back from her and looked her up and down, appraising her chosen wedding look.

“If I recall correctly, this sari of yours looks a great deal like mine,” Mira said with a knowing smile.

Mindy mirrored her smile. “I guess it’s just a coincidence…” Mindy trailed off, winking at her mother.

“Wait! That’s why you chose a green sari?” Tamra asked.

“For the most part, yeah,” Mindy replied.

“Ohh. I thought you chose it because Dr. C always checks you out more when you’re wearing green.”

“Tamra!” Mindy chided. She glanced back at her mother and pointedly back at Tamra. “I mean, that may have factored into it but I thought we could all just not point that out.”

“My bad,” Tamra said guiltily, walking to the door to answer the knock.

Morgan walked in the room, passing by Tamra, walking straight toward Mindy.

“Oh. My. God. Dr. L, you look absolutely breathtaking. Seriously gorgeous. I can’t handle this,” Morgan exclaimed, tears coming to his eyes.

“Thank you, Morgan. Out of curiosity, why are you here?” Mindy asked.

“Oh I have a message from Dr. C.”

“Oh. Oh God, did he get cold feet and he’s running. I swear, I will track him down and I will murder him!” Mindy nearly yelled, going to the worst place first.

“No, no, no. He’s not running. He wanted me to give you this note,” Morgan reassured her, handing out a folded piece of paper.

Mindy’s friends all awed at the gesture. Mindy reached out and took it from him. Before opening it up, she knew that it was the last of his reasons why he wanted to marry her. She took a breath and then unfolded the piece of paper. Written in Danny’s scrawl was: **Because I can’t wait to start our family with you**. Tears instantly sprang to Mindy’s eyes. She wondered if he’d been having the same struggles concentrating today too.

The women and Morgan crowded around Mindy to see what he wrote. She figured the way it was worded was harmless enough. No one would probably guess from it that she was pregnant. All of them started making awed noises again. Morgan and Mira were both wiping away tears. Mindy noted that it seemed normal for one of them, a bit odd for the other.

As they were all gathered together, Mindy’s father entered the room.

“You realize it’s almost show time right?” Sunil asked, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

“Oh crap! It is!” Mindy exclaimed. Morgan was ushered from the room and the bridesmaids all picked up their bouquets, ready to go.

“Ladies, why don’t you go on ahead? We’ll meet you there,” Mira said pointedly. The women all took the hint and filed out of the room with encouraging smiles toward Mindy as they left.

Once they were out of the room, Mindy’s parents turned to her. “Mindy, we are so proud of you,” Mira started. “We couldn’t be happier that you didn’t listen to us and that you found a love of your own.”

“It’s true. We’ve never seen you happier than you are now. It makes us happy as your parents,” Sunil added. “I’m sorry that we almost let you marry that buffoon, Raj.” Both of her parents shook their heads shamefully. Mindy grabbed their hands and squeezed affectionately, smiling at the two of them.

“We want you to know that we couldn’t be prouder of the woman you’ve become. You are a smart, wonderful, beautiful woman and any man would be lucky to have you,” Her father continued, “But between us, we’re rather glad it’s Danny.”

Mindy laughed as she dabbed away at a stray tear. “I’m glad it’s Danny too. And that you guys approve.”

“We approved of him not long after meeting him just by how obvious it was that he was in love with you,” Mira confided.  

“Thank you, guys! I love you both so much,” Mindy said, “And thank you for correcting our stupid mistakes and intervening in my life. But you can be done doing that now. I’m good,” she finished with a laugh.

Her parents gathered her in as they shared a big hug. Mindy hugged them back, wondering how she got so lucky to have such supportive parents. Finally they pulled back, looking at her before turning toward the hall, ready for the wedding.

The music started, the bridesmaids processed, the doors opened, and there was Mindy. Danny was awestruck as he saw her. She was smiling from ear to ear, completely radiant as she glided down the aisle with her dad. They had planned the wedding to be a good mixture of Catholic traditions and Indian traditions. Mindy had insisted on writing their own vows though. By the time they got to the vows, Mindy was so jittery that she didn’t think she’d get them out. She wished she didn’t have to go first. She grabbed her paper from Gwen, looked at Danny, and prayed that her tears would hold back long enough to get through them.

“Danny, I’ve been a lifelong lover of romcoms, but no movie could truly prepare me for falling in love with my best friend. We haven’t always gotten along, but somehow before we were even friends, you still stood up for me and still supported me. That has followed us every step of the way and I have no doubt it will continue. You have been the biggest surprise in my life. I am constantly thankful to have you in my life as my friend, my confidant, and now my husband,” Mindy paused to sniffle and Danny reached across to brush away her tears. “I vow to let you pick at least every fifth movie, to keep an eye on your grey hairs and color some of them when they get out of control, to let you cook me dinner every time you want, and to complain less about listening to Springsteen. Above all, I vow to love you and keep you forever.”

Mindy smiled brilliantly at Danny. He smiled back, choking back his own tears as he prepared to read his own vows.

“Mindy, it seems like just yesterday you were hired at the office and I couldn’t understand you. You were this bright light in my rather dark life. I didn’t get you and I didn’t get how you could be so happy all the time even when bad things happened to you. You have taught me so many things that have changed my life forever. I never knew one single person could have such an impact on another person’s life, but you have altered my life completely in the best way possible. I don’t know what I would do without you. You are the most beautiful person in every way. I will probably never stop being in awe that someone as special as you chose me. I vow to never use the phrase “we’re pregnant” since I will obviously never be the pregnant one, to at least pretend to consider your restaurant options when we’re bickering over where to eat, to try and watch one of your favorite movies without criticizing it, and to always be mad with you when someone makes you angry. Really though, I vow to love you through all the stupid fights and everything life throws at us. I will love you through it all.”

Mindy was still giggling from Danny’s vows when they were exchanging rings. As she slid the ring on Danny’s finger, a look of awe crossed his face. She realized in that moment that no matter the doubts she may have had during their engagement or even before that, Danny did want to be married to her. She could tell by how elated he seemed to have the symbol of it on his hand. Mindy felt relief and unbridled happiness at her realization and at the sight of Danny slipping her own ring on her finger. The look of joy on his face was making it hard to stop herself from kissing him. They were getting close to the end of the ceremony, but she didn’t want to wait much longer. She loved Danny Castellano and they were married. They had the rings to prove it. They were expecting a baby. Their lives were intertwined forever. Years ago, Mindy would have laughed at the thought of it. But now, nothing seemed more right in the world.

Finally the officiant said the words Mindy had been waiting to hear. “You may now kiss the bride!” Danny didn’t hesitate. He practically launched himself at Mindy, their lips crashing together excitedly. She could hear cheers and applause from their friends and family, but she couldn’t stop kissing Danny. They finally broke apart, looking at each other with huge, albeit a bit guilty, smiles on their faces. They grabbed hands, turning to look at everyone.

“May I present for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Castellano!” The officiant cheered.

Mindy whipped her head around to glare at him. “Hey! What did I say?”

The officiant cleared his throat saying, “I’m sorry. Allow me to present for the first time, the Doctors Castellano!”

Mindy righted herself around, grinning proudly.

“The Doctors Castellano?” Danny asked curiously.

“It felt more accurate and sounded pretty cool,” Mindy answered. Danny laughed and squeezed her hand. He leaned back in for another quick kiss. As she pulled back, she felt her stomach lurch. She quickly inhaled and looked nervously at Danny. She pulled him in close so she could whisper in his ear.

“Where was the nearest bathroom?”

“I don’t know. Probably right outside this room. Why?” Danny asked, looking at her with concern written on his face.

“Because I’m about to barf,” Mindy replied quickly.

“Oh God,” Danny said under his breath. Grabbing her hand tighter, Danny took off up the aisle with Mindy a step behind him. He found the bathroom quickly and ushered Mindy in. They ran into a stall, Mindy bent over the toilet, and Danny grabbed her hair. Before too long, it was over and she felt fine again.

“So I guess the morning sickness decided it wanted to be part of the wedding too,” Mindy said disgustedly. Danny dabbed a damp paper towel across her face, hoping to soothe her.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Except now my mouth tastes horrible and you aren’t going to want to kiss me for the rest of our wedding,” Mindy replied glumly.

“I think you underestimate me,” Danny said, leaning in. Before he actually kissed her, he caught a whiff of her breath. Pulling back he said, “I think Richie has some mints. That should help, right?”

Mindy just nodded sadly.

“Hey you know what?” Danny asked, trying to cheer her up.

“What?”

“We’re married.”

Mindy looked up perkily. “Damn straight, we are, Castellano!”

Danny took one look at her, noticing how excited she was and couldn’t resist her anymore. “Ah, screw it,” he said as he leaned in and captured her lips with his. Soon they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Mindy broke away from Danny to open it. “Yes?”

Peter stood there looking unimpressed. “I realize you two are jazzed about getting married and all, but it’s a bit tacky to run straight for the bathroom right after you leave the ceremony.”

“Sorry, Peter. I just had to vomit and so we didn’t feel like letting our guests see that.”

“Ahh, I know what this is. You just realized you now have to spend the rest of your life with Danny and this was the gut reaction. I get it.”

Danny wrenched the door open all the way to glare at Peter.

“Ohh…hey buddy…” Peter trailed off.

“Just tell everyone we’ll be right there,” Danny said gruffly.

The rest of the wedding went smoothly. The food was exactly as Mindy had wanted it. The cake was delicious as she licked it off Danny’s face after smashing it there. Finally, Danny pulled her out on the dance floor. They moved slowly together to a song Mindy could care less about at the moment. She was in the arms of her husband and she was happier than she ever thought she could be.

Mindy was thinking through the last few months and how she had almost given all this up. A thought occurred to her and gasping, she pulled back a bit from Danny.

“What?” Danny questioned.

“Danny, I was sick the week I went to Boston. I don’t remember reading how many weeks along I was. I was too fixed on the positive. Danny, what if I had gotten married then?!”

Laughing, Danny rested his hand on her cheek, rubbing his thumb in a soothing circle. “You didn’t, Min. That’s all that matters.”

“You’re right. All that matters is that I love you and you love me and we are married and we are having a baby,” Mindy agreed, whispering the last part so no one could overhear.

Danny beamed at her, “Yeah that is all that matters.”

The two of them kept dancing and kissing every so often as they reveled in their happiness.

Their first year of marriage was certainly an eventful one. Six months after the wedding, they welcomed their son, Benjamin Sunil Castellano. It was hard for them to keep their families away for long periods at a time, but Mindy and Danny were so enamored with their child, they didn’t care who else was there. Mindy swore there was nothing more precious than walking in to see Danny with the baby sleeping on his chest. Danny couldn’t get over Mindy cooing with the baby as she soothed him to sleep. They were so taken with the little family that they both had questioned ever having. It may have been a long, hard road to get there, but they were a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading and leaving kudos and comments!! It was so fun to write this and the encouragement certainly made me want to keep going! I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought of the ending!! :)


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